(Left) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the 2024 ESPY Awards in Hollywood, California on July 11, 2024; (Right) The Sussex family in their 2024 holiday card.Photo:Kevin Mazur/Getty; Archewell
Kevin Mazur/Getty; Archewell
Meghan MarkleandPrince Harry’sholiday wishesincluded the debut of a much-loved family member: their rescue beagle, Momma Mia.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s office released their annual holiday card on Dec. 16, and the season’s greetings included a new family picture with their kids,Prince ArchieandPrincess Lilibet. It was a sweet surprise to see Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, featured in the card, as Prince Harry and Meghan haven’t featured their children this way since their 2021 holiday card. The shot showed the children excitedly running towards their parents and marked the family’s first public picture with Momma Mia, plus their other two dogs,GuyandPula.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s rescue beagle, Momma Mia.Beagle Freedom Project/Mega
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are the most loving, sensitive and caring adopters I have ever met!” animal rights attorney Shannon Keith, who runs the Beagle Freedom Project, told PEOPLE at the time. “We were so honored that they have been supporting Beagle Freedom Project and chose to adopt a dog who has been abused.”
Keith said that Harry and Meghan could have taken one of the many puppies available. but opted to adopt a senior dog.
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet and the family’s dogs in their 2024 holiday card.Archewell
Archewell
Envigo RMS was fined $35 million for animal cruelty for its mistreatment of the dogs at the breeding facility, theBBCreported last summer, and Mia found a forever home with the Sussex family.
While Prince Harry and Meghan’s pack expanded with the third dog, their menagerie already included a rescue beagle! In 2015, Meghan rescued a beagle named Guy from A Dog’s Dream Rescue in Ontario, Canada. At the time, the future Duchess of Sussex was living abroad for her work as an actress onSuits, and would begin dating her future husband Prince Harry in 2016.
Dolores Doherty, the founder and owner of A Dog’s Dream Rescue, later told PEOPLE she was grateful for the spotlight Meghan’s profile brought to the shelter and the fairytale ending that Guy the beagle had. The pup made its way to Canada after being saved from a kill shelter in Kentucky and found a match with Meghan.
“It’s just wonderful the exposure she created. She could’ve bought a dog, but she chose to adopt,” Doherty told PEOPLE.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Bogota, Colombia on Aug. 15, 2024.Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation via Getty
Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation via Getty
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Prince Harry wrote in his 2023 memoirSparethat “fur babies” (dogs) were one of the topics he and Meghan bonded withKing CharlesandQueen Camillaabout the first time she met them in 2016. Meghan then owned rescue dogs Guy andBogart, a German Shepherd-Lab mix, but rehomed him when she moved to the U.K. to be with Harry.
In the summer of 2018 — shortly after they married! — the Duke and Duchess of Sussex adopted ablack Labradornamed Pula. Pula means “rain” in Setswana, the official language of Botswana, a meaningful country to the couple and where they had their third date. Because rain is scarce in Botswana, it’s considered to be a valuable blessing, making the name a poignant choice.
source: people.com
