Queen Elizabeth’s New BFF (Meghan Markle’s Beagle, Guy) Was Rescued from a Kentucky Shelter
Meghan Markle’s wasn’t the only fairy tale that played out on the world stage over the weekend. Another American—one whose rags to riches tale makes us more than a little teary—joined the British royal family on Saturday, and this furry addition just so happens to be a Southerner.
Surely you remember Markle's dog, Guy the beagle? The now-famous pup that had the distinct honor of arriving at Windsor beside Queen Elizabeth? And how could you forget! Peering out from the backseat of the monarch’s personal Range Rover, seated just inches away from the Queen, little Guy looked like he’d prepared his whole life for that moment.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Once upon a time, Guy was living in the Montgomery County Animal Shelter in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky—a small, rural city about 35 miles east of Lexington.
It’s fair to say that the handsome beagle had a rough start in life. But according to The Courier-Journal, everything changed for Guy in 2015, when a Canadian rescue group called A Dog’s Dream Rescue came knocking. They often work with the low kill shelter in Kentucky to find pups their furever homes. It was at one of their adoption events that Guy met Markle. She was there looking for a friend for her other dog, Bogart. Legend says that one walk is all it took to seal the deal. And now Guy, an unwanted Kentucky beagle, is BFFs with the Queen of England.
Shelter employees told The Courier-Journal that they knew an actress on Suits had adopted Guy, which was cool enough. But when they learned she was engaged to Prince Harry?
"Oh my goodness," shelter director J'Rie Elliot recalled people saying. "We have puppy royalty."
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She added that Guy’s new home her faith in humanity.
"Our motto, 'adopt don't shop,' has been heard on such a high level," Elliot told The Courier-Journal. "She could have any dog she wanted. She can afford to buy any breed. And she opened her heart and home to a shelter pet. That makes all the long hours, sleepless nights and transports worth it."