The Meaning Behind Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Dog’s Name Will Melt Your Heart
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have more than one dog, but their Labrador Retriever’s name has a special meaning to the royal couple. Here’s what we know about the significance of Meghan and Harry’s dog’s name.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kept their dog’s name a secret
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have two dogs, a black Labrador Retriever they adopted in 2018 and a Beagle rescued from a breeding facility in August 2022.
When Harry and Meghan first got their Labrador in 2018, they kept their pup’s name a secret. Many publications reported the dog’s name was Oz, possibly after the Egyptian ruler Ozymandias, also known as the “king of kings.”
But, according to People, Meghan said that nobody knew their dog’s moniker yet and revealed the Labrador’s gender by saying that people kept “getting her name wrong.”
The meaning behind Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s dog name is significant to their relationship
Two years after they adopted the family pet, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s dog’s name was revealed in the book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family by Omid Scobie (per Parade). The royal couple named their dog Pula.
The moniker has a special meaning to the couple because Pula is the currency of Botswana, where Meghan and Harry went camping at the beginning of their relationship in 2016. Prince Harry has said the African country felt like a “refuge” for him in the years following the death of his mother, Princess Diana. The center stone in Meghan’s engagement ring is a diamond from Botswana.
In addition to reminding the couple of their camping date, the word Pula also means “rain” in Tswana, the national language of Botswana. It is used to wish others well because rain is rare and valuable in the African country (per The Sun).
Botswana is a special place for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
Meghan Markle knows how important Botswana is to Prince Harry. For his birthday in September 2020, amid lockdowns due to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Meghan recreated their Botswana camping trip in their backyard.
A source told People that the couple “always give each other incredibly romantic gifts.” “Last year, for Harry’s birthday, Meghan recreated their Botswana camping adventures in their backyard,” said the source. “It’s a place that means so much to them – and to Harry in particular – so Meghan wanted to bring that happy place to him on his day so she set up a tent, got sleeping bags, cooked dinner and recreated Botswana where they fell in love.”
When the couple got engaged in 2017, Harry revealed that he took Meghan to Africa after just two dates in London.
“And then it was I think about three, maybe four weeks later that I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana,” Harry said. “And we camped out with each other under the stars. She came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic.”
The couple returned to the African country in 2017 to do conservation work with Elephants Without Borders.
