Meghan Markle Mourns Death of Rescue Beagle Guy: 'I Have Cried Too Many Tears to Count'

Mar. 15, 2025

Meghan Markle; Meghan with her dog, Guy.Photo:Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty; Meghan Markle/Instagram

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty; Meghan Markle/Instagram

Meghan Markleis mourning the loss of her beloved rescue beagle, Guy.

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, shared the news of her dog’s death on hernew Instagram account, writing, in part: “I have cried too many tears to count - the type of tears that make you get in the shower with the absurd hope that the running water on your face will somehow make you not feel them, or pretend they’re not there. But they are. And that’s okay too. Thank you for so many years of unconditional love, my sweet Guy. You filled my life in ways you’ll never know. As ever, Meghan.”

Guy has been a constant presence through many of Meghan’s milestone moments — from herSuitsdays to Harry’s garden proposal and even her royal wedding day. He also made a cameo in the trailer for the duchess’supcoming lifestyle series,With Love, Meghan, lounging comfortably in his dog bed beside her in the kitchen.

“They referred to him as ‘the little guy’ because he was so small and frail, so I named him ‘Guy’. And he was the best guy any girl could have asked for.

“If you followed me on instagram back in the day, you saw a lot of him - and on The Tig too. He was with me at Suits, when I got engaged, (and then married), when I became a mom….he was with me for everything: the quiet, the chaos, the calm, the comfort.

“He endured a terrible accident shortly before I moved to the UK which had him undergoing surgeries for several months and unable to leave the clinic. Doctors said he would never walk again, but Dr Noel Fitzpatrick said he could do it. H and I would drive late at night, after hours, to see Guy as he recovered in Surrey for months on end.

“I will always be grateful to Noel and his team, the team at Queen West Animal Hospital in TO, our vets now, and my friends and community: Thank you for loving him so.

Meghan Markle and her dog, Guy.Meghan Markle/Instagram

Meghan Markle/Instagram

Guy had a fairytale rescue story that began in the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, a kill shelter in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. Volunteers transported him to Ontario, Canada’s A Dog’s Dream Rescue in 2015, and shortly after his arrival, Meghan, 43, emailed the rescue center after finding its page on Petfinder. She thought a beagle — a breed known for being energetic, kind and gentle — would be a good match for her, and Dolores Doherty, the founder and owner of A Dog’s Dream Rescue, agreed, emailing Meghan an adoption application to fill out. She returned the completed application just 10 minutes later.

Shortly after arriving at the event, Meghan zeroed in on Guy, quickly becoming smitten with the rescue dog after going on a trial walk with him. Meghan adopted him, and Guy quickly became a fixture on Meghan’s previous Instagram account, which she deleted in 2018 before marrying into the royal family.

Meghan Markle and her dogs.Meghan Markle/Instagram

“This dog has a charmed life,” Doherty said she remembered thinking to herself after seeing the photos of Meghan and the sweet beagle with “magnificent ears and eyes.”

Of Meghan choosing to adopt, “It’s just wonderful, the exposure she created,” Doherty added. “She could’ve bought a dog, but she chose to adopt.”

Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and Guy.Evening Standard/Twitter

Eventually, when Meghan moved to the U.K. to start her life with Prince Harry there, Guy joined her. In 2017, Guy suffered a setback whenhe broke two legs, which left Meghan “distraught” and “very upset.” Under the care of renowned veterinary surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick, Guy was nursed back to health, and when Harry and Meghan announced their engagement that November, he had a brief mention intheir engagement interviewwhen Meghan said, “Well, I have two dogs that I’ve had for quite a long time, both my rescue pups. And one is now staying with very close friends and my other little guy is — yes, he’s in the U.K., he’s been here for a while.”

Meghan, Harry and Guy, as seen in ‘Harry & Meghan’ on Netflix.Netflix

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“And she walks outside to get into her car, but instead of getting in she turns around and comes and taps on the window glass and she yells, ‘Take the dog!’ And so I brought him home.Because Ellen told me to,” Meghan added.

Meghan Markle and Ellen DeGeneres.Karwai Tang/WireImage; Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Ahead of her royal wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018, Guy even had a book released about his fairytale story calledHis Royal Dogness, Guy the Beagle: The Rebarkable True Story of Meghan Markle’s Rescue Dog. On her wedding day, Guy sat at Meghan’s feet as she had her hair and makeup done.

Meghan’s love of dogs was not only a point of attraction as she and Prince Harry were falling in love, but it charmedQueen Elizabeth, too. During their engagement interview, Harry revealed Meghan had charmed the Queen — and her corgis! — saying that “The corgis took to her straight away. I’ve spent the last 33 years being barked at — this one walks in, absolutely nothing.”

Meghan replied, “They were laying on my feet during tea!”

“Just wagging tails — and I was just like, argh,” Harry said in response.

Harry also wrote in his 2023 memoirSparethat “fur babies” were one of the topics he and Meghan bonded withKing CharlesandQueen Camillaover the first time she met them in 2016, the same year she and Harry met and began their relationship.

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (L) and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (C), and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, listen as her husband Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (unseen), speaks during the Prince of Wales’s 70th Birthday Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in London on May 22, 2018.DOMINIC LIPINSKI/AFP via Getty Images

In 2018, Harry and Meghan adopted a black Labrador named Pula, which means “rain” in Setswana, the official language of Botswana, where Harry and Meghan had their third date.

“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. “We were so honored that they have been supporting Beagle Freedom Project and chose to adopt a dog who has been abused.”

Keith added that Harry and Meghan could have taken one of the many puppies available, but they opted to adopt a senior dog.

During her time as a working royal, one of Meghan’s patronages was animal shelter and charity Mayhew, and she candidly wrote about being a rescue dog owner inthe organization’s 2019 annual report.

“As a proud rescue dog owner, I know from personal experience the joy that adopting an animal into your home can bring,” she wrote.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during a forum about digital responsibility at EAN University during a visit around Colombia on Aug. 15, 2024 in Bogota, Colombia.Diego Cuevas/Getty Images

Diego Cuevas/Getty Images

During a visit to Mayhew in January 2019, Meghan — who was “very natural with the dogs, as one needs to be,” CEO Caroline Yates said — told an anecdote about Guy, who was previously mistreated and left to roam wild.

“He was petrified to come in the front door. He didn’t know how to go up and down stairs,” Meghan said. “All the things you’re patient with and then you end up with the best dog in the world.”

During a difficult year where Harry and Meghan stepped back as working royals, relocated to the U.S. and suffered a pregnancy loss, Yates said Meghan’s dogs had beena source of “support”for the Duchess of Sussex.

“Whenever we talk to the Duchess about the charity, she always references how important her dogs are and what a support they are, particularly during everything that’s happened this year, with COVID, and with the personal trials and tribulations she went through this year,” Yates said about Meghan’s 2020.

“It was really nice to share our experiences with her about how important animals are when things are tough and what a comfort they can be,” she added.

source: people.com