Royal Family

Meghan Markle's mom may have to make a quick transformation -- both in apparel and location -- because she's now the leading candidate to walk her daughter down the aisle.

Doria Ragland was going about her business in L.A. Monday, just 5 days before her daughter gets hitched to Prince Harry. The yoga instructor has been keeping a low profile, but that's about to change.

TMZ broke the story ... Doria's ex-husband, Thomas Markle, was supposed to give Meghan away, but he tells TMZ he's no longer going to the wedding because of the photo scandal. He made a deal with a paparazzi agency for some photo ops in return for cash, and the story presumably pissed off the Royals.

Thomas says he wanted to go to the wedding so badly ... he left the hospital prematurely after suffering a heart attack just 6 days ago because he wanted to attend the nuptials.

No official word on who will be substituting for Thomas, but we're sure it's not her half sister, so our money's on Doria.

Meghan Markle's father will not be walking her down the aisle Saturday ... he isn't going to the wedding at all because of the fallout over selling photos of himself ... TMZ has learned.

Thomas Markle tells TMZ, he meant no harm to Meghan or the Royal Family when he made a deal to allow a photo agency to take pics of him getting ready for the wedding. He says he had a reason and it was not principally about money.

Markle tells us over the last year he's been ambushed by paparazzi who have photographed him in the most unflattering circumstances ... buying beer, looking disheveled and reclusive. He's especially upset that they made him look like a lush. Thomas says he doesn't even drink beer ... he was buying it for the guards at the place where he lives.

He says since his daughter started dating Prince Harry he's been offered anywhere between $50,000 and $100k for interviews and he's turned all of them down.

Thomas says the paparazzi agency approached him, offered him money -- though nowhere near the reported $100k -- and he figured there was no harm in it and it would help recast his image.

He admits the pics look "stupid and hammy." He says he was just going along with the paparazzi agency, which he now deeply regrets.

And, Thomas says, he suffered a heart attack 6 days ago but checked himself out of the hospital so he could attend the wedding. He's now decided not to go because he doesn't want to embarrass the Royal Family or his daughter.

Meghan Markle's extended family wasn't invited to the Royal wedding, but that didn't stop them from jetting off to London.

Meghan's nephew Tyler and his brother, Thomas Dooley, arrived at London Heathrow Airport along with their mother Tracy Dooley, who was the wife of Meghan's half brother, Thomas Markle Jr. Despite no invite, the family does have a purpose there -- they will be special correspondents on "Good Morning Britain" ... presumably dishing family deets for Saturday's big day.

Also not going to the wedding? Meghan's father, Thomas. TMZ broke the story ... Thomas decided not to go because he doesn't want to embarrass the Royal Family or his daughter. The decision comes on the heels of the fallout over him selling photos of himself.

At least one late-night TV talk show host will have insider access at the upcoming Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ... and that lucky guy is James Corden.

Sources close tell TMZ ... Corden and his producing partner, Ben Winston, are on the guest list for next Saturday's wedding at St. George's Chapel in England, and BOTH receptions to follow.

This includes the reception immediately after the ceremony at Windsor Castle, and later in the evening at the more exclusive party at Frogmore House ... where Meghan and Harry snapped their engagement pics.

James and Prince Harry have been friends for years, but Corden previously implied he didn't think he'd get an invite to the wedding ... but he just wanted to go to Harry's bachelor party anyway.

Mel B might've played too fast and loose with the truth by implying the Spice Girls were performing at the Royal wedding, 'cause they're not -- at least for now ... TMZ has learned.

Sources tell us that while Scary Spice and co. will, in fact, be attending Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's nuptials later this month ... there are no current plans to have the group perform at any point in the festivities. M&H haven't asked ... neither has Kensington Palace.

What's more ... we're told the Spice Girls haven't rehearsed anything for the wedding either, as of now, and with about a week or so before the Royal couple ties the knot ... it ain't likely they'll get an act together in time for a showstopper. The last time the Spice Girls performed together was in 2012 at the London Olympics ... so they're probably a little rusty.

As we reported ... Mel B led on that the Girls were hitting the stage together for the wedding while chatting with the ladies of "The Real." She didn't come out and say it outright, but she didn't deny it either ... which led everyone, including us, to believe just that.

Unfortunately, we're told she was getting ahead of herself ... 'cause there's simply no truth to that as of right now. Keep in mind ... the wedding is on May 19.

All that said ... it wouldn't be implausible to see the Spice Girls possibly do something to entertain the crowd -- they're all gonna be under one roof for crying out loud, which doesn't happen all that often. Mel, Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton recently got together ... sans Victoria or Mel C, though.

Hopefully, they can give us a bow ... a note ... ANYTHING to tease this upcoming tour of theirs.

Meghan Markle has the exact same skin color as her fiance, Prince Harry -- at least according to LEGOLAND's special display ahead of the royal wedding.

LEGOLAND's Windsor Resort unveiled a new exhibit this week in honor of Meghan and Harry's big day, which is just over a week away. The problem is LEGO Meghan is pretty whitewashed. We all know the real Prince is very fair-skinned ... so there's no way his bride-to-be's skin tone should match his.

Biracial Meghan -- half black, half white -- obviously has tanner skin than Harry, so LEGOLAND clearly missed the mark. Their explanation? Not enough brown LEGOs. Seriously.

A rep for LEGOLAND tells TMZ ... "Our small LEGOLAND figures are not detailed representations of any of the characters and are all built using a limited range of [primary] brick tones."

That's funny, 'cause their figurines of Mel B and Meghan's mom, Doria Ragland, look a lot more realistic, skin tone-wise than Meghan's character does.

Is it the end of the world? Of course not, but interesting choices made by the LEGO artists. Another way to look at this -- LEGO Harry's way too dark!

Kensington Palace just showed off Kate Middleton and Prince William's new bundle of joy to the whole world for the first time -- and he's royally cute.

The photo of Prince Louis -- full name Louis Arthur Charles -- was taken by Kate on April 26 ... just 3 days after his birth. The Royal babe looks like a natural in his first ever self-portrait ... and mighty cozy in his little white outfit.

Kensington also released an adorable pic from May 2 of Louis' older sister, Princess Charlotte, giving him a kiss on her third birthday.

As we reported ... Kate gave birth to her baby boy almost 2 weeks ago at St. Mary's Hospital in London.

Sir Paul McCartney just topped his Beatles drummer ... and joined 'Harry Potter' author J.K. Rowling.

Queen Elizabeth made Sir Paul a Companion of Honour Friday morning when she placed the medal around his neck during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. As for what the honour means -- it's given to people who've made outstanding achievements. J.K., Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen are among the other honourees.

The timing kinda sucks for Ringo Starr though. He juuuust caught up to Paul less than 2 months ago when HE got knighted.

Prince Harry is a changed man inside and out thanks to his fiancee, Meghan Markle -- going from full-fledged bachelor life to living on a leash ... lovingly, of course.

We spoke with royal expert Katie Nicholl -- who's familiar with Harry's inner circle -- and she tells us Harry has kicked a lot of his old bad habits since getting with Meghan. We're not just talking food and lifestyle here -- though, that's part of it. It's more big picture.

Nicholl says Harry, for instance, will pass on tequila shots at a wedding now -- and even make excuses to call it an early night. He's also doing yoga with Meghan too, and eats clean with her. In other words ... Meghan's L.A. lifestyle is alive and kicking in London.

As Katie puts it ... Meghan has certainly "tamed" Harry. Nicholl spills even more tea in her new book, "Harry: Life, Loss, and Love."

Kate Middleton and Prince William's third child has a name fit for a king ... Louis Arthur Charles!

The name of the new little royal was announced Friday by Kensington Palace, and he will be known as His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge. Not too shabby for a 4-day-old.

As we reported ... Kate gave birth to her baby Monday at St. Mary's Hospital in London. As is tradition, the Town Crier announced the birth from the steps of the Lindo Wing of the hospital.

The smart money was on the name Arthur, because royals are traditionally named after relatives and Arthur is commonly used in the royal family. Louis was among the top contenders but was by no means the favorite. It's one of his older bro Prince George's middle names, and also one of William's.

Fittingly, his little Highness -- now fifth in line to the throne -- has taken the name made most famous by The Kingsmen ... no relation.

Congrats! Big things to come for little Louis, we are sure.

Kate Middleton and Prince William's freshly named little Prince Louis Arthur Charles may be fifth in line to the throne, but he's already ruling when it comes to raking in gifts from celebs and dignitaries.

We're told James Corden, Diane von Furstenberg and the First Family of Gabon -- the African nation whose prez is tight with the Duke and Duchess -- all threw down at least $1k on gift baskets for Prince Louis. The top spender was the First Fam, who we're told dropped $5k at Bev Hills baby boutique Petit Tresor. Here are just a few of the gifts:

-- James Corden: limited edition, 23-book Beatrix Potter collection and plush characters toy set ($750).

-- Diane von Furstenberg: 2 complete lines of organic cotton bodysuits, onesies, and other first year clothing items ($500), and wooden learning blocks in English, Hebrew, Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, and Persian ($500).

-- First Family of Gabon: Petit Tresor Silver Treasures gift basket with silver sippy cup, rattle, keepsake box, comb/brush set, cutlery/bowl set, and cake candleholders ($3,500).

We're told they had to drop another $200 to ship the gifts from Cali to the UK.

We think Gabon's First Fam can swing the expense. Ditto for James and Diane.

9:57 AM PT -- Kate and the new bouncing royal have made their first public appearance together!

Will was also there by her side for the big reveal on the steps of the hospital. Both mom and baby have been reported to be in perfect health.

Kate Middleton has just given birth to her third child ... and it's a BOY!!!

The Duchess of Cambridge popped Monday at St. Mary's Hospital in London. The new royal was announced to weigh in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. by Kensington Palace. Prince William was at Kate's side for the birth.

As is tradition, the Town Crier announced the birth from the steps of the Lindo Wing of the hospital. The customary announcement -- complete with bell ringing and feathered cap -- was also made for Kate's other two births.

Kate and Prince William announced last September baby No. 3 was on the way but the announcement came only after the cat had been outta the bag. The royal family was seemingly forced to announce she was pregnant after canceling a public appearance due to extreme morning sickness.

She also suffered from morning sickness before giving birth to Prince George in 2013 and Princess Charlotte in 2015. Btw ... baby No. 3 will be fifth in line to the throne -- after Prince Charles, Prince William and his 2 siblings.

Congrats!!

Kate Middleton and Prince William haven't announced the name for their newborn son yet, but there's already a bunch of people betting it'll be Arthur.

We reached out to Ladbrokes, a major UK betting company, who's been taking bets on the new royal baby name and Arthur is the clear frontrunner.

If you're wondering why Arthur ... royals are traditionally named after relatives and Arthur is commonly used in the royal family. Both Prince Charles and Prince William have Arthur as a middle name, but it hasn't been used as a first name in a while.

Check out the top contenders:

-- Arthur 6/4
-- James 5/1
-- Albert 6/1
-- Philip 6/1
-- Thomas 10/1
-- Alexander 12/1
-- Henry 12/1

Funnily enough, it’s not looking good for daddy’s namesake. William bottoms the list at 25/1.

There are some familiar names on the potential godparent list as well ... the top contender is Tiggy Legge-Bourke, Prince William's old nanny ... and Prince Harry comes in at 10/1 -- tied with Pippa Middleton, Kate’s sister. Meghan Markle is further down at 14/1. Some celebs with not such good odds? Elton John at 50/1, David Beckham at 100/1 and Donald Trump at 1000/1.

Kate and Prince William's son was born Monday morning at St. Mary’s Hospital in London. It's their third kid, second son and fifth in line to the throne.

Andrew Morton, author of the most famous book on Princess Diana, says Meghan Markle holds a very important key for Royal Family's image.

Morton tells us Meghan becoming a Duchess after marrying Prince Harry is a much-needed step forward for the Royals after a checkered past where issues of race are concerned.

He says Meghan won't have to go around "kicking shins" to impart a sense of change at Kensington or Buckingham Palace -- her presence alone will do the trick.

Morton just wrote a new biography, "Meghan: A Hollywood Princess" ... and he'll have much more to say about her in next week's "Spilling Royal Tea" podcast. Meanwhile, check out this week's episode.

Meghan Markle was back in the States this week to take a major step in becoming a permanent UK citizen ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry.

Eyewitnesses tell us Meghan attempted to be as incognito as possible -- with 4 bodyguards in tow -- when she entered the VFS Global UK Visa Application Centre Thursday in Chicago. We're told she was there to finalize her application for a UK visa.

The whole thing only took about 10 minutes, and the entire office was cleared for her. We're told she was friendly with the staff. As for her disguise -- shades and a White Sox cap to blend in with locals.

Meghan forked over about $1,500, maybe a little more, for premium processing -- so she should get her visa within a few days ... according to our sources.

Based on the visa application criteria, she most likely submitted for a family visa, and applied as a partner or spouse. That visa requires her to confirm all previous marriages, and her plans to marry or become a civil partner within 6 months of arriving in the UK.

We can hear her now ... "Maybe you've heard of my fiance."

After 6 months, Meghan can go for permanent citizenship, which Kensington Palace has said she'll do. No fast track, though ... that process can take up to 3 years.

Meghan Markle was destined for London even before she met her fiance Prince Harry -- at least according to her former psychic.

Richard Win, Meghan's longtime psychic, tells us, during his last session with her just months before she met Harry, he forecast Great Britain would loom large in Meghan's life.

Win told her, "I see you in London with a lot of British people" to which Meghan responded, "I love London ... I love British people." We're told Meghan was seeing someone else at the time, and that once she hooked up with Harry ... she emailed Win to tell him she had met someone new .. from England!

Win also says Meghan was highly intelligent and poised, noting she wasn't hungry for fame. He says her engagement to Harry couldn't happen to a nicer person.