Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Adopt a Senior Rescue Dog

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's family continues to grow! The royal couple has added a new dog to their brood.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex adopted a 7-year-old rescue dog named Mamma Mia from the Beagle Freedom Project in Los Angeles earlier this month. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, animal rights attorney Shannon Keith says that it all started with a mysterious phone call from the duchess herself.

"She calls me on my cell with no Caller ID and says, 'Hey Shannon, this is Meghan,'" Keith tells the outlet. "We talked for 30 minutes, and I thought, 'Is this Megan Fox?'"

Shortly after, Keith says that Meghan and Harry paid an after-hours visit to the Valley Village house where the rescue organization is based. They were accompanied by two security guards as they met with the pups available for adoption.

Mamma Mia and her eight newborn puppies had been rescued -- along with 4,000 other beagles -- by federal authorities from the now-shuttered Virginia breeding and research plant Envigo in July.

"The duchess is holding Mia and was like, 'We’re adopting her,'" Keith says. "She was like 'No, we don’t want a Christmas puppy. … We want ones we can help who are older.'"

A rep for the couple confirmed Meghan and Harry's visit to the Los Angeles Times, sharing that Meghan had a rescue beagle for many years. When she saw the story about Envigo’s shutdown, she wanted to get involved. She understood that puppies typically find homes more quickly and wanted to help one of the older, more vulnerable canines. The rep did not specifically comment on the adoption.

According to Keith, Prince Harry did have one final request before bringing Mamma Mia to the family's home in Montecito, California.

"He's just like, 'Well, we can’t leave yet because there's something in that back house she needs. Does she have a favorite toy or something?'" Keith recalls.

They dumped out a box that had been filled with toys, and Mamma Mia grabbed a fox toy she had played with on her cross-country freedom ride from Maryland.

Harry said, "OK, now we can go home."

Back in 2020, ET learned that Meghan and Harry purchased a nine-bedroom, 19-bathroom home in Montecito, California, near Santa Barbara. The 18,671-square-foot house, which was built in 2003, was purchased by the couple for $14.6 million -- and is expected to be the family's "forever home" where son Archie, 3, and daughter Lilibet, 1, will grow up.

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