There are several enduring mysteries around the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. I do not expect Finding Freedom to reveal the answers to many of those mysteries, like “who was the matchmaker” or “who are Archie’s godparents” or “where did they honeymoon” or “when exactly did Harry first propose to Meghan?” I’d actually forgotten this mystery though – soon after they married, Harry and Meghan adopted a puppy. We heard that the dog was a black Labrador (or perhaps a black lab-mix) and yet… no one revealed the puppy’s name, or they misidentified her as Oz or something like that. They kept the dog’s name a secret for two years! But now we finally know it:

The name of an important member of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s family has finally been revealed! In the summer of 2018, shortly after they wed, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed a black Labrador rescue into their home. Until now, the name of the pooch has been a mystery. The couple even joked themselves that “people keep getting her name wrong.”

In the best-selling new book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family by veteran royal journalists Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the authors reveal that the high-energy pup’s name is Pula.

The name comes with a special meaning. Pula is the official currency of Botswana, the country in Africa where Harry took Meghan when they first started dating. Pula means “rain” in Setswana — and since rain is very scarce in Botswana, it’s considered valuable and a blessing.

It seems the couple’s 1-year-old son Archie has already taken after his animal-loving mom.

Archie “is best friends with his dogs,” a source previously told PEOPLE. “They make him laugh and are gentle with him.”

[From People]

Pula is… a meaningful name to them, I get it. But I don’t like it as a dog’s name, sorry not sorry. People should name their animals either people-names or something cute which can be nicknamed. “Pula” just isn’t a great name to me.

Incidentally, as I was writing this up, I wondered about Meghan’s two dowry dogs, Bogart and Guy. Guy Markle made the trip to England and lived with H&M in Nottingham Cottage and Frogmore Cottage, then Guy presumably moved with them to North America. Bogart, on the other hand, was left behind in Canada when Meghan moved to the UK. It was said that Bogart was too old and Meghan didn’t want to move him to a new country, so she gave him to a friend (whose name we still don’t know, another royal mystery). I wondered if Bogart was back to living with Meghan now that’s in LA. But Dan Wootton says that Bogart is still living in Canada because he hates Harry:

A close associate revealed Meghan has decided that, for the sake of family harmony, Labrador-German shepherd cross Bogart is in the doghouse. They said yesterday: “Meghan adored that dog but the decision not to take him back was based on Bogart’s relationship with Harry. Bogart never took to Harry when they spent time together in Canada. He didn’t like Harry. Meghan was very vocal about the fact it wouldn’t be fair to take him back full-time, given Bogart’s feelings for her husband. Of course, her staff in the UK who knew about her decision found her statement quite strange, but they accepted it at face value because Meghan knows her dogs.”

[From The Sun]

Sounds like Bogart was the self-appointed guard dog and he didn’t like any strange ginger men around his mama. Bogart was in for a rude awakening then when Meghan chose Harry over him. Anyway, I actually sort of believe that Meghan left Bogart in Canada with Mystery Friends and now she and Harry just have Guy and Pula.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.