Meghan Markle’s mum Doria Ragland is played by Melanie Nicholls-King

Meghan Markle’s mum Doria Ragland is being played by The Wire star Melanie Nicholls-King in the new Liftetime movie about Megxit.  

Taking to the shores in Vancouver, Melanie shot scenes alongside Sydney Morton, who is portraying Meghan, 39, and Jordan Dean, who is taking on the role of Prince Harry, 36, as they recreated a video shared in their bombshell Oprah interview. 

Melanie, who is know for playing Cheryl in The Wire, bore a striking resemblance to Doria, 64, with similar hair style, headscarf and glasses perfecting the look for her part in Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace. 

Transformation: Meghan Markle’s mum Doria Ragland (right in 2019) is being played by The Wire star Melanie Nicholls-King (left) in the new Liftetime movie about Megxit

Sporting a blue tee and loose-fitting trousers, Melanie was perfecting Doria’s off-duty style, with a hairband and similar hairstyle bringing the look together.  

Doria’s appearance in the movie comes as no surprise as she is famously incredibly close to the couple – with Meghan previously gushing about her mother having a ‘free spirit’ while Harry branded his mother-in-law ‘amazing’.

Meghan spoke to Glamour in 2017 about their bond, saying: ‘We can just have so much fun together, and yet, I’ll still find so much solace in her support. That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend.’

The upcoming third film about the couple appears to be a recreation of the home video, featuring Duchess of Sussex on the beach with their son Archie.  

Doting grandma: Melanie was clad in similar clothes to Doria’s casual garb  

Sweet: Doria is pictured at Buckingham Palace in 2019, with the Queen, Prince Phillip, Harry and Meghan following Archie’s birth 

Lookalikes: The group got together to dote on the Archie character 

Sydney, who is portraying expectant Meghan, in the movie Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace, was pictured with a fake baby bump while on-set. 

The actress, 37, was joined on the beach by Jordan, 32, and the little boy who stars as Archie. Photos show Morton cradling her fake baby bump while sporting a black zip-up athletic jacket, black leggings, and white sneakers.

The outfit is nearly a perfect match to that worn by the Duchess in the movie. However, while Meghan donned a white baseball cap, her lookalike had sunglasses sitting on top of her head, likely so her face would be seen on camera.  

Changing it up: Melanie is pictured on the red carpet in 2015, left, while Doria is seen at Cliveden House Hotel in 2018, right

Like family already: The actors appeared to in great spirits on set, where the youngest cast member happily ran in the sand 

Spoiler? The Sussexes first shared the footage of the Duchess and their son on the beach during their explosive interview with Oprah – which suggests that Lifetime’s movie is going to include the moment in one way or another

The video shared by the royals is thought to have been taken by Harry and shows Meghan and Archie playing together on a beach in California with one of their dogs. 

Dean and Morton were seen holding the same blue Chuckit! dog toy on set that Meghan and Archie played with on the beach. 

The Sussexes first shared the footage of the Duchess and their son on the beach during their interview with Oprah – which suggests that Lifetime’s movie is going to include the moment in one way or another, although the network has yet to confirm. 

On-screen couple: Morton and Dean were spotted holding hand as they walked on the beach together

Acting: Morton appears to have been studying Meghan’s mannerisms, including the way she touches her belly when she is pregnant (right). Meghan is pictured cradling her baby bump while pregnant with Archie in 2019 (left) 

The interview has played a pivotal role in the Sussexes’ relationship with the rest of the royal family after they made several damaging allegations about ‘The Firm’.

These claims included allegations that an unnamed member of the monarchy made racist remarks about the color of their son Archie’s skin tone. 

Lifetime has not yet indicated the time frame of the upcoming Escaping the Palace movie, only teasing that the flick will give viewers a dramatized take on Megxit.

However, if producers have decided to include more current events, the Oprah interview would likely be a key moment that they’d be keen to feature.  

Snapped: Melanie is pictured playing Ann Marie Bowen in 2016’s Falling Water 

Who’s who? Dean (left) was dressed casually in a gray T-shirt, cargo shorts, and a baseball cap – a look that Harry has been seen wearing before (right)

Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace promises to offer viewers a fictionalized account of ‘what really happened inside the palace that drove Harry and Meghan to leave everything behind in order to make a future for themselves and their son Archie,’ according to Deadline. 

‘It will detail Meghan’s growing isolation and sadness, their disappointment that “The Firm” was not defending them against the press’s attacks, and Harry’s fear that history would repeat itself and he would not be able to protect his wife and son from the same forces that caused his mother’s untimely death.’

The movie is the third installment in a series of films about Meghan and Harry, and Dean and Morton are the third set of actors to take on the roles of the Duke and Duchess, having only been publicly unveiled as the stars of the upcoming movie days before filming began last month.  

The original: The clip shared by the Sussexes is thought to have been taken by Harry and shows Meghan and Archie playing together on a beach in California

First look: The new on-set snaps were taken exactly one week after the first photo of Dean and Morton as Harry and Meghan was shared by Lifetime. The photos showed them wearing outfits that look just like those sported by the Sussexes last March 

What happened in the first two Harry & Meghan Lifetime movies?

HARRY & MEGHAN: A ROYAL ROMANCE (2018) 

Airing on Lifetime five days before the pair married in real life, the movie charted the whirlwind romance of Meghan and Harry by mutual friend Violet von Westenholz, to their time in Botswana where they fell in love.

Things eventually heat up as the young couple are filmed seemingly naked and entwined in bed until Harry can take it no more, going down on one knee in his Kensington Palace apartment to ask Meghan to marry him.

It also featured other members of the royal family, including Kate Middleton. 

Kate was depicted as the grim common sense throughout the film, who pops up seemingly with the express purpose of throwing cold water on Harry’s fun. 

HARRY & MEGHAN: BECOMING ROYAL (2019)

A scene showing the actors playing Meghan and Harry kissing after their wedding in Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal

Becoming Royal promised to ‘pull back the curtain to reveal untold joys and challenges’ faced by the couple, as well as key moments like their pregnancy announcement. 

British actor Charlie Field, who appeared in an episode of Poldark, was cast as Prince Harry, while American actress and presenter Tiffany Smith, who has had minor roles in shows including Jane the Virgin, played Meghan. 

Other key moments included Meghan’s first solo royal engagement and their first royal tour. 

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