Meghan Markle today paid a moving tribute to her late ‘beloved friend’ Oli Juste as she opened a new wing of a London animal charity.
The Duchess of Sussex emotionally told how the dog trainer’s sudden death in January 2022 left her heartbroken as his friends and family gathered in Mayhew where the Oli Juste wing was unveiled.
The announcement was made on Harry and Meghan’s Sussex.com website, which showed the beaming duchess wearing a beige coat, crouching down and petting a dog at the charity in north-west London.
Meghan had been a patron of her favorite animal charity since 2019, which she organized in her personal capacity.
But she resigned from her position in 2022, just a year after she and Harry moved to California.
The Duchess gave an emotional video message as she opened the new wing named after her friend
The Duchess of Sussex meets a Jack Russell named Minnie during a visit to Mayhew in 2019
Meghan Markle has paid a touching tribute to her late ‘beloved friend’ dog trainer Oli Juste as she opened a new wing of a London animal charity
The couple stepped down as senior royals in 2020.
In the video message seen by Oli’s friends and family, Meghan said: ‘A sincere thank you to the amazing team at Mayhew who worked tirelessly to bring this dream to life.
‘It was so important to find a way to celebrate Oli’s memory in a way he would have loved.’
The charity said the new wing with refurbished kennels, which would house dogs, was made possible thanks to a ‘generous’ donation from Meghan.
Sherine Wheeler, CEO of Mayhew, said: “We are so pleased to celebrate and honor Oli’s life in this way, we are so grateful for his friendship and contribution to Mayhew.
‘He combined his expertise as a renowned dog trainer with a passion for animal welfare to make a big difference for rescue dogs.’
The star-studded opening was attended by celebrities including Strictly’s Nigel Harman and actress Rula Lenska.
Mr Juste, who appeared on Channel 4’s Puppy School, died in Chichester hospital in 2022, surrounded by his fiancée Rob and his mother Jenny, and his siblings Helene and Michel.
Rob posted a moving tribute on Mr Juste’s Instagram page announcing his passing as he said their beloved dog Bernard could also say goodbye.
‘Although I find it difficult to fathom what happened, I take comfort in the fact that Oli helped and continues to help people to his dying breath and beyond by being an organ donor, so there is the opportunity to help people out there . the end of his life,” he wrote.
Meghan spoke of her heartbreak following the death of the animal behaviourist, who introduced her to the charity in 2019.
Meghan during a visit to animal welfare organization Mayhew in London on January 16, 2019
Mayhew describes itself as ‘an animal welfare charity working to improve the lives of dogs, cats and the people in our community – at home in London and internationally.’
It comes after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex launched their new website Sussex.com as part of a royal rebrand after purchasing a domain name from technology entrepreneur Neil Agate for an undisclosed fee.
Mr Agate, who is from Sussex but lives in the US, created the name in 1995 and kept it for almost 30 years.
Harry and Meghan are said to have used a real estate agent who did not reveal the Sussexes’ identities when they bought the domain name without arguing over the price.
The domain was registered on February 4, nine days before Harry and Meghan relaunched on Sussex.com.
