Meghan Markle and Ellen DeGeneres are both animal lovers. And they previously met at a dog shelter in Los Angeles.
In 2016, the Duchess of Sussex told Best Health magazine that it was DeGeneres that persuaded her to adopt one of her dogs.
“I was in LA and I went to this dog rescue [shelter] and they had gotten him and his brother. So, I saw him and I was sitting there with him and then Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi walk in. Now, I don’t know her, but Ellen goes ‘Is that your dog?’ and I said ‘no’ and she’s like ‘you have to take that dog’ and I said ‘well, I’m deciding,’ and she’s like, ‘rescue the dog’. It’s sort of like if Oprah tells you to do something,” Markle said.
Prince Harry’s wife went on to say that DeGeneres didn’t stop in trying to encourage her to get the dog until she finally did.
“I’m sitting there holding him and she’s like, ‘Have you thought of a name for him yet?’ and I said ‘well I think I’d name him Bogart’ and she’s like ‘you’re taking the dog home.’ And she walks outside to get into her car but instead of getting in 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,” Markle said.
DeGeneres also shared the encounter she had with Markle during an episode of Ellen Show. The comedian revealed that she was the one that urged the Duchess of Sussex to adopt one of the dogs from the shelter.
Following that encounter, Markle and DeGeneres never saw each other again. But it is highly likely for the A-listers to cross paths because they are neighbors.
Markle and Prince Harry just purchased a property in Santa Barbara and DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi have been living there for years.
In the book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, royal author Andrew Morton also talked about Markle and DeGeneres’ brief encounter at the dog rescue place.
“She had talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia De Rossi, to thank for the final decision,” he wrote.