Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to take in 1 of the 4,000 rescued beagles liberated from a US animal testing center.
The beagle the couple have adopted will join their family inside their 7-acre Montecito mansion.
Scroll down to find out more…
Now, the couple seem to have been the pillars of scrutiny against the Royal Family since stepping down from their positions.
Meghan and Harry said they wanted a more private life for their children, and moved to Los Angeles to live a more normal life out of the media eye.
However, many feel like the couple has truly slandered the Royal Family.
And that Harry’s relationships with his brother, father, and grandparents are “hanging by a thread.”
Although, through the rifts, there were reports that the Royal Family was “delighted” by the news of the couple’s second child, Lilibet’s birth.
Despite Harry’s continuous blasting of them across all media platforms.
Harry’s relationship with his family remains strained.
With Charles apparently refusing his calls in the lead up to the announcement in 2020. Harry also said he was financially cut off from his father after they stepped down and at first they were forced to live off Diana’s inheritance.
Asked by Oprah Winfrey during their televised interview about why they left, Harry blamed a “lack of support and lack of understanding.”
He also said he wanted to get away from the ‘genetic pain’ he felt from his family, especially his father, Prince Charles.
“I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, (and) Archie’s his grandson.”
“But at the same time – I will always love him – but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship. But they only know what they know, or what they’re told.”
Then, of course, following Lilibet’s birth came the controversy surrounding her name…
With one royal biographer, Angela Levin, deeming it as ‘rude.’
As we know, their baby girl was named Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
Paying tribute to Harry’s late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in 1997, when Harry was just twelve.
The name Lilibet is also a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II herself.
A family pet name, the Queen bestowed it on herself as a child as she couldn’t pronounce the name Elizabeth. The name was particularly used by the Queen’s late husband Prince Philip. It was also used by her doting father, King George VI.
But, despite the tribute, people still weren’t happy with some even accusing that, by using the Queen’s private pet name as a first name, Harry had broken royal protocol.
Harry was heavily criticized for taking such a private, intimate pet name and giving it to his child, after what some are calling an ‘onslaught of abuse’ against his grandmother and The Firm.
Royal commentator, Richard Kay, suggested that it may be a step too far for Meghan and Harry to name their daughter Lilibet.
Writing in a column for the Daily Mail, he said: “By giving the baby the name Lilibet, the Queen’s private family nickname – even though they intend to use the diminutive ‘Lili’ for their daughter – there is a risk.”
“Will it be seen as a presumptuous choice for a royal baby who is eighth in line to the throne, but who will grow up on the other side of the world speaking with an American accent?”
“It is tempting to wonder if Harry would have been so emboldened in his choice if his grandfather Prince Philip – the only close family member permitted to call the Queen ‘Lilibet’ – had still been alive.”
“Doubtless, there will be among the more cautious courtiers at the Palace some discomfort and the odd raised eyebrow at this latest convention-destroying Exocet from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
There was a mixed response to the name, with some believing that the couple were pandering to the queen for forgiveness, whilst others thought that it was a touching tribute.
Meghan planned to share all about the controversy as well as her life as a dutchess, and much more during a segment on The Ellen Show..
And as you can imagine, people had a lot to say about it…
Meghan’s laid-back interview appeared on the show last year, on November 18th…
And it went into detail about her life before and after joining the royal family.
Ellen teased the interview saying:
“A lot has changed since the last time Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, was on the Warner Brothers lot. Don’t miss the rest of our interview tomorrow.”
In the clip for the episode shared to Twitter, Meghan can be seen reminiscing about her life as an actress…
Meghan told the talk-show host: “I would park on gate three and I would scoot on over and the security guards here would always say ‘break a leg, I hope you get it.’ So driving today was very different.”
She even shared a comical moment before she made it big in the acting world…
Speaking about her old car, Meghan said: “It had a life of its own so I had this very old Ford Explorer Sport and at a certain point the key stopped working on the driver’s side, so you couldn’t get yourself in through the door so after auditions, I would park at the back of the parking lot and I would open the trunk and climb in, pull the door shut behind me and crawl all over my seats to get out. That’s how I would come to and fro.”
Ellen went on to ask if anyone ever noticed…
To which Meghan replied: “No I would play it off, I’d go ‘Oh, I’m just looking for my resume, highlighters for my script. Maybe it’s back there,’ and then crawl in and close it.”
Surprisingly, Meghan also touched on the topic of family life.
Speaking of living in Montecito, Meghan described the family as being “just happy.”
It seems like they are finally settled into life in California…
And Meghan is getting on pretty well with their neighbors.
So much so, that they’ve even given her a nickname.
Closer magazine shared that this was down to Meghan making certain requests when it comes to dining out.
According to a source close to the royal, “If she’s going into Beverly Hills or West Hollywood for lunch or dinner, she’ll generally call ahead and request a table that is completely secluded.
“Some of her favorite places were off the beaten track and not all that well-known, like gourmet sushi joints in the downtown area or authentic Mexican places in the area she grew up in.
“But, generally speaking, these days she likes higher-end hangouts like Cecconi’s, Sunset Tower, Sugarfish, or Lucky’s steakhouse in Montecito, which was recommended to them by Oprah.
“It’s become their favorite and they’ve waited on hand and foot. The bills can often reach up to $5,000, but Meghan and her friends are happy to pay.”
Keep scrolling!
This lavish lifestyle has resulted in Meghan gaining a nickname among her neighbors.
“The Princess of Montecito.”
In other news, Meghan has finally shared the first episode of her much-awaited Spotify project called Archetypes today.
In which she discussed an incident that terrified her.
The podcast was titled The Misconception of Ambition with Serena Williams.
But the incident was about her little one, Archie.
While Meghan chatted away with her long-term friend Serena about her retirement announcement.
The Duchess also offered an insight into her ill-fated royal tour to Africa with Prince Harry back in 2019.
The former Suits star said she had dropped their young son at the housing unit they were staying in for a sleep straight after arriving on their official tour…
Meghan and Harry then left to carry out their visit to the Nyanga township.
“There was this moment where I’m standing on a tree stump and I’m giving this speech to women and girls, and we finish the engagement, we get in the car and…
“They say there’s been a fire at the residence. What? There’s been a fire in the baby’s room,” she recalled.
Meghan described how she and Prince Harry raced back to meet the nanny, who reportedly was in a flood of tears…
According to the Daily Star, Lauren, the nanny said she had taken the split-second decision to take Archie with her rather than put him down to sleep in the room that subsequently went up in flames.
“We came back. And, of course, as a mother, you go, ‘Oh, my God, what?’ Everyone’s in tears, everyone’s shaken. And what do we have to do? Go out and do another official engagement? I said, ‘This doesn’t make any sense,'” Meghan said.
“I was like, ‘can you just tell people what happened?’ I think optically, so much of the focus is on how it looks instead of how it feels,” she added.
Meghan then revealed how the room caught on fire…
“In that amount of time that she went downstairs, the heater in the nursery caught on fire. There was no smoke detector. Someone happened to just smell smoke down the hallway, went in, fire extinguisher. He was supposed to be sleeping in there,” she said.
Well, we’re super glad Archie wasn’t in the room at that time!
In lighter news, Meghan and Harry have adopted a 7-year-old beagle dog.
The couple named their new dog Mamma Mia.
This isn’t the first time the pair have owned a pet.
Harry and Meghan own another beagle named Guy and a Labrador called Pula.
Their newest family member, Mamma Mia, was 1 of 4,000 dogs that had been bred at the Envigo breeding and research facility in Virginia.
The dogs were bred so they could specifically be sold for use in pharmaceutical and biotech research.
However, several inspections of the Envigo facility over the past 2 years found dozens of violations of US federal regulations.
The animals were rescued back in July and were taken in by the organization, which included the Beagle Freedom Project.
Shannon Keith, the animal rights attorney who ran the project, told the LA Times: “The duchess called me personally.”
“She calls on my cell with no Caller ID and says, ‘Hey Shannon, this is Meghan,'” she explained.
Shannon and Meghan were talking on the phone for half an hour.
The couple is said to have made an after-hours visit and played with Mia, who had been brought there with 8 of her newborn puppies.
Shannon spoke about Meghan’s reaction when she saw Mia…
She said: “The duchess is holding Mia and was like, ‘We’re adopting her.'”
Over the years, Meghan has adopted several rescue dogs and even brought one of her Beagles to the UK when she married Harry.
Congratulations to Meghan and Harry for the new addition to their family!