Royal fans reacted with joy after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle unveiled their Christmas card, which included several snaps from last year.
Among the six images included in the festive greeting card was one showing the Sussexes with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, as well as their rescue dogs, including Mia, who has not been seen since she was adopted in 2022.
The photo of Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, shows Lilibet, now three, running into her father’s arms, while her brother Prince Archie, five, heads straight for Meghan .
Surrounding the beaming couple were the wagging tails of their three dogs, a black Pula Labrador and rescue beagles Guy and Mia, the latter of which was rescued from an animal testing center by the couple in 2022.
The Sussexes adopted the nine-year-old pup two years ago from a group of dogs rescued from a facility in the United States. They called her Mamma Mia, or Mia for short.
The puppy was one of 4,000 dogs bred for the Envigo breeding and research center in Virginia. Mia had arrived at the rescue center having just given birth to eight puppies.
The dogs had been bred for pharmaceutical and biotechnology research, but inspections of the center had found dozens of violations of federal law over a two-year period.
Animal lover Meghan has adopted several rescue dogs in recent years and brought her American beagle Guy, the eldest of the trio of Sussex puppies, to the UK when she married Harry.
Royal fans were left buzzing yesterday after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle unveiled their Christmas card, which included several snaps from last year (pictured).
Among the six images included in the festive greeting card was one showing the Sussexes with their two children, Lilibet and Archie, as well as their rescue dogs, including Mia, who has not been seen since she was adopted in 2022 ( pictured after being rescued with her eight puppies)
Also pictured is the couple’s black Labrador, Pula, who was introduced to the family before Archie’s birth in 2019.
The dog’s unique name is the currency in Botswana, a country the couple visited in the early days of their relationship.
Although not included on their greeting card, the Sussexes also own several rescue chickens, which live with them in their seven-acre, $14 million mansion in Montecito, California.
Other photos included in the image showed highlights of the Sussexes’ year, including snaps from their four-day visit to Colombia in August.
The card was shared on X/Twitter by the Sussexes’ long-time friend and royal reporter Omid Scobie.
Scobie, who wrote Finding Freedom about Harry and Meghan’s departure from the UK for a new life in California, captioned his post: “The Sussexes share the highlights of their year in Archewell’s 2024 Christmas card.”
The card also included a personal message from the couple that read: “On behalf of the office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Archewell Productions and Archewell Foundations.
“We wish you a very happy holidays and a prosperous new year.”
Mia was one of 4,000 dogs at the testing center in the United States. She was rescued in July 2021. and taken in by organizations like the Beagle Freedom Project, which cared for 25 of the dogs.
Surrounding the glow are the wagging tails of the couple’s three dogs, a black Pula Labrador and Guy and the rescue beagle, Mia, the latter who was rescued from an animal testing center by the couple in 2022 (pictured with her puppies two years ago). )
The dogs had been bred for pharmaceutical and biotechnology research, but inspections of the center had found dozens of violations of federal law over a two-year period.
The card also included a personal message from the couple that read: “On behalf of the office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Archewell Productions and Archewell Foundations
She had been specially chosen by Meghan, who specifically asked her to adopt one of the “older” dogs.
At the time Mia was adopted, Meghan had “personally” called Shannon Keith, an animal rights lawyer who runs the project, to ask if she and Harry could have one of the “older” rescue puppies.
She told the LA Times: ‘The Duchess called me personally. She calls my cell phone without caller ID and says, ‘Hi Shannon, it’s Meghan.’
At that moment, Shannon wondered if she was talking to Megan Fox, but it was indeed the Duchess of Sussex.
Meghan and Harry are said to have made an after-hours visit and played with Mia, who had been brought there with eight of her newborn puppies.
Shannon recalled: “The Duchess is holding Mia and said, ‘We’re going to adopt her.'”
“She told me, ‘No, we don’t want a Christmas puppy.’ We want older people we can help.”
The former actress chose the Mayhew animal welfare charity as one of her first endorsements.
When she moved to England to be with Harry, she had to leave Bogart, a Labrador Shepherd mix, in the United States.
When U.S. Department of Agriculture officials conducted an inspection of Envigo in 2021, they found a female beagle whose paw had been stuck in loose flooring for so long that she was suffering from dehydration, according to court documents.
Facility employees admitted to inspectors that they did not know how long she had been trapped.
Another inspection found that nine injured beagles were euthanized rather than receiving veterinary care.
On subsequent inspection it was discovered that many of the 196 beagles that actually needed to be euthanized were not anesthetized before receiving a fatal injection directly into the heart muscle.
Throughout the two-year inspections, officials found cases of neglect and mistreatment, from malnourished dogs to sick and injured dogs.
According to court documents, feces and food waste were allowed to accumulate in the cages where the dogs were kept.
At the time Mia was adopted, Meghan had “personally” called Shannon Keith, an animal rights lawyer who runs the project, to ask if she and Harry could have one of the “older” rescue puppies.
On May 18, 2022, the USDA inspector general and other law enforcement agencies executed a federal search warrant of the facility and seized 145 dogs and puppies that veterinarians deemed to be in “acute condition.”
The next day, authorities filed a complaint in federal court in the Western District of Virginia.
The complaint stated that more than 300 puppies had died at the facility between January and July 2021.
The company’s website stated that they raise “healthy, well-socialized animals” and that they hold a license issued by the USDA to breed and sell dogs.
Parent company Inotiv, which bought Envigo in November 2021, agreed to the plan to rescue the dogs and said it would close the Virginia facility as part of a restructuring effort.
In late July, a federal judge approved a plan to rescue the beagles.
They were taken to the Humane Society of the United States, before being transferred to shelters or groups such as the Beagle Freedom Project. The organization took in 25 beagles, one of them was Mia, who was taken in by the Sussexes.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan will not be joining the royal family for Christmas this year as they have reportedly not been invited to the festivities.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly not received an invitation to the royal Christmas at Sandringham.
Photos taken earlier this year showed some of the rescued dogs on their way to Homeward Trails Animal Rescue.
They are expected to spend the Christmas holidays in the United States with their children Archie and Lilibet.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to Montecito, California, after they stepped down as senior members of The Firm in January 2020.
Meghan previously revealed how the Sussexes celebrate the holidays in the United States in an interview with Marie Claire, noting that the festivities are always “low-key.”
She said: “We always make sure we have something to do,” the duchess told the magazine. ‘Like any other family, you spend time enjoying a great meal and then what do you do? Playing, all the same, someone brings a guitar, fun.’
The former Suits actress also emphasized the importance of making “room at your table for your friends who don’t have family,” like feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who once joined the Sussexes’ Thanksgiving party.
Meghan, who married Harry in 2018, added that it is important to the couple that Archie and Lilibet experience the “magic” of festive traditions, such as putting out “carrots for the reindeer” at Christmas.