Love Of Dogs Would See Meghan Markle Settle In Well

If there is one thing likely to make sure Meghan Markle settles in well with the royal family, it will be her love of dogs.

The actress has two rescue dogs, a beagle named Guy and a Labrador-shepherd mix called Bogart.

Ms Markle said the pair “mean the absolute world” to her and she refers to them as “my loves” and “my boys”.

Guy and Bogart have regularly featured on her Instagram account, with Guy even appearing in a patriotic knitted union flag jumper.

It was American comedian and chat show host Ellen DeGeneres who convinced Ms Markle to adopt Bogart – her first pet – after she bumped into her in a shelter.

“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,” Ms Markle said.

Speculation that a royal engagement was imminent intensified when it was reported Ms Markle was putting arrangements in place to move the animals from her home in Toronto to London.

Prince Harry’s grandmother the Queen is the royal best known for her love of dogs.

She has owned more than 30 corgis, many of them direct descendants of Susan, who was so loved she accompanied the then Princess Elizabeth on her honeymoon.

Queen Elizabeth II with some of her corgis at the Windsor Horse Trials (PA)

Now she has only one corgi left, Willow, and two dorgis, Candy and Vulcan.

She introduced the new breed of dog known as the “dorgi” when her corgi Tiny mated with a dachshund “sausage dog” called Pipkin which belonged to Princess Margaret.

Bogart might turn out to be a favourite with the Queen.

Labradors are bred and kept at Sandringham and the Queen has a close bond with the animals, which are working gundogs more than pets.

Ms Markle is a keen advocate of adopting dogs, often using the #adoptdontshop hashtag in her posts, which will go down well with Harry’s stepmother the Duchess of Cornwall.

Camilla is patron of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, and adopted her two adored Jack Russells, Beth and Bluebell, from the shelter.

The Duchess of Cornwall holding her two dogs Bluebell and Beth at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (Adrian Dennis/PA)

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also have a cocker spaniel called Lupo, a wedding present from Kate’s brother James Middleton.

Harry grew up surrounded by dogs. His father the Prince of Wales had a Jack Russell called Tigga, who featured on some of the Prince’s Christmas cards along with William and Harry.

Kate, William and baby Prince George with Lupo the cocker spaniel and Tilly the Middleton family’s retriever (Duke and Duchess of Cambridge)

But not all royals dogs are well behaved.

In 2003, as the family was gathering for Christmas at Sandringham in Norfolk, Pharos, one of the Queen’s oldest corgis, was savaged by Florence, the Princess Royal’s English bull terrier, and had to be put down.

The Princess Royal with her bull terriers (PA)

The year before, Anne was fined £500 and ordered to pay £500 compensation when another of her bull terriers, Dottie, attacked two children in Windsor Great Park.