Gary Barlow left heartbroken following death of beloved 'princess' Cookie

Gary Barlow announced the incredibly sad news today that his beloved dog Cookie, has passed away at sixteen years old.

Taking to Instagram, he posted two photos of Cookie, with one captioned "#ripcookie" and the other with three heart emojis.

Just days ago, the pop icon shared some adorable photos of Cookie, a gorgeous terrier-spaniel mix, and Hugo, a pomeranian, alongside a rare glimpse into his personal life as he celebrated his 54th birthday.

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It also happened to be Cookie's 16th birthday, as Gary shared a photo of the beautiful dog after posting a snap of a 16th birthday balloon. He wrote: "She's still here!!!! Cookie!!!"

He first introduced Cookie, who he often referred to as "princess", to his fans in October 2012, when he shared a picture of her on Twittercaptioned: "Everybody meet Cookie".

Gary Barlow's 54th birthday

In a series of pictures uploaded to Instagram, Gary gave a fans a peek into his birthday celebrations. He shared a photo of the sweet decorations put together by his family, with a colourful Happy Birthday bunting strung across one of his rooms.

"The effort my gorgeous family go to!" he captioned, clearly touched by his family's thoughtful gesture.

The joint family celebrations come days after the Take That star and his wife Dawnmarked their 25th wedding anniversary.

Gary and Dawn's love story

The couple first crossed paths on Take That's 1995 tour, Nobody Else, where she was a dancer. They married five years later and now share three children: Daniel, 24, Emily, 21, and Daisy, 15.

For their 25th anniversary, Gary shared a moving message on Instagram: "The achievement of being married for 25 years is not the days, weeks or years - it's the people you're surrounded by #family #friends #love."

On his Instagram stories, he took fans on a trip down memory lane, sharing some rare photos from over the years.