Miranda takes career break as she mourns beloved dog
Actress grieves for dead dog
MIRANDA Hart has told of her ‘excruciating sadness’ at the death of her beloved dog Peggy.
The actress and comedian, 48, said she was taking a break from work and social media while mourning the shih tzu-bichon frise cross who had been her ‘absolute rock’.
Miss Hart’s ‘loving best friend’, whom she had looked after since 2007, inspired her 2016 memoir Peggy And Me and appeared on Miranda’s Games With Showbiz Names on BBC1 last month.
‘Last week I said goodbye to my beautiful, darling dog Peggy,’ she wrote in an emotional post on Instagram.
‘I share because I shared her with you when I wrote Peggy and Me and many of you took her to your hearts.
‘I have always been amused by and grateful for the pictures and gifts she was showered with. She used a blanket a fan gave her in Australia until the end.’
Miss Hart said Peggy was recognised in public even when she was being walked by friends and sometimes got more attention that she did.
She added: ‘Fellow dog owners will know the excruciating sadness of losing your loyal, loving best friend.
‘The pain mirrors the unique joy, connection, comfort and love they bring. And Peggy was my absolute rock and source of all those things. Their uncompromising, unconditional loving presence is such an incredible gift. Enjoy your dogs as much as you can. They are great teachers.’
Miss Hart told her 718,000 followers she would take some time now to ‘write and rest and see what the new chapter will be’.
She concluded her post: ‘Peggy – you were always by my side and always on my side. I will miss you every day.’ Miss Hart took the dog in after meeting her on the set of Lee Mack’s sitcom Not Going Out in 2007. She belonged to the show’s costume designer who was trying to rehome her.
In Peggy And Me, Miss Hart said her pet had helped her after a failed relationship. ‘I had a little being who adored me, who I think might just love me – approval from anyone else wasn’t necessary,’ she wrote.