You probably already know that the Queen of England is devoted to her corgis,
but keep watching to discover just how deep that love runs.
The Queen’s history with pets and other animals is long and adorable!
Queen Elizabeth's love for corgis began during her childhood after her father, George VI,
brought home a Pembroke Welsh corgi puppy for the royal family. His official title was "Rozavel
Golden Eagle," but he was more commonly known as Dookie. The pup's training staff gave him
this playful moniker, as they knew that he was going to live in the Duke of York's household.
And that wasn't young Elizabeth's only canine companion. Shortly after taking in Dookie, the
royal family added another Pembroke Welsh corgi to their household named Jane. She remained with
the family until her tragic death in 1944 when she was fatally hit by a passing car. The royal
family also had other dogs named Ching, Carol, and Cracker. With all these four-legged friends in her
childhood, it's hardly a surprise that the Queen remains such a steadfast animal lover to this day.
"Her dog, the royal dog of this nation, is the corgi."
Elizabeth didn't have a furry friend that was truly hers and hers alone until her late teens.
On her 18th birthday, she received a special gift in the form of a Pembroke Welsh corgi
named Susan. She was the first corgi that belonged to the queen herself
and not the family. Officially registered as Hickathrift Pippa,
Her Majesty's new friend was initially called Sue, which eventually developed into Susan.
The queen's fondness for Susan eventually led to her breeding her pet, starting a royal corgi
dynasty that continued for more than 80 years. All the corgis that have been a part of the
queen's family have reportedly come from Susan's lineage. In 2018, Susan's line finally came to
an end with the death of her last remaining descendant, Willow. At the time of Willow's death,
she had cancer-related illness and was eventually put to sleep to prevent any prolonged suffering.
Her passing was reportedly "extremely hard" for the Queen due to the connection to Susan.
Queen Elizabeth's love for corgis is unquestionably legendary.
As Vanity Fair put it in 2015,
"No world leader has been as widely identified with a particular animal
as Elizabeth II with her corgis."
It takes time for someone to become iconic for their animal ownership,
and over Her Majesty's reign, it's estimated that she's owned at least
30 corgis, if not more. The long-running lineage of royal corgis reportedly began
after the beloved Susan birthed two puppies, Sugar and Honey. Sugar would continue the line,
which eventually ended with Willow, the 14th generation of Susan's descendents.
If you're somehow still skeptical of the queen's never-ending devotion to her four-legged friends,
you should realize just how much these furry pals have been integrated into royal affairs and
international events. For example, the 2012 London Olympics featured a sketch with the royal corgis
escorting James Bond into Buckingham Palace, while Christmastime 2014 saw the Palace gift
shop overflowing with stuffed animal corgis for royal fans who were eager to emulate the queen.
"She's really focused on them, and it's almost as if she's done it as a way of creating a brand."
Anyone can call themselves the ultimate dog lover,
but how many can claim that they've actually created a new breed? Queen Elizabeth can,
as she's reportedly credited with inventing a unique breed called the dorgi. Although,
it's worth noting that the initial creation was entirely accidental. As reported by Vanity Fair,
dorgis sprang into existence in 1971 when royal corgi Tiny mated with Pipkin, Princess
Margaret's dachshund. The result was six adorable hybrid pooches that would become known as dorgis.
The royal family reportedly loved their new furry friends so much that they continued
to breed the animals, thereby leading to even more dorgis. These new royal household members
included the likes of Tinker, Cider, Rum, Berry, Candy, Brandy, Harris, Piper, Chipper, Vulcan,
and Pickles. But, of course, man's best friend, or Queen's best friend, can't stick around forever.
In 2020, Vulcan died of old age, but before his passing, he was one of the four royal dogs who
appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair when Annie Leibovitz photographed the Queen for a 2016 issue.
One constant throughout Elizabeth's reign is her beloved four-legged friends firmly at her
side. Her corgi Susan even accompanied her and Prince Philip on their three-week honeymoon.
A photograph from the Royal Collection Trust even features the couple strolling the grounds
during their honeymoon along with the ever-loyal Susan trotting along directly behind the Queen.
And Susan isn't the only corgi who's accompanied Her Majesty on her trips. As it turns out,
her pets are quite the avid travelers. The queen is a frequent flier, and as a royal, she travels
in style on her private aircraft. While all those flights can be taxing, the queen makes sure to
bring plenty of pooches for company. Bob Shields, one of the queen's former flight navigators,
revealed on the TV documentary Secrets of the Royal Flight how the royal staff would try to make
the dogs do their business before flying so as to avoid accidents while onboard. But this worry was
actually unnecessary, as the pets were incredibly well-trained. As Shields remarked proudly,
"I am delighted to say we never had one accident."
If you think you treat your furry friends like royalty, think again. There's no way you can
compare to Queen Elizabeth, whose pets even have a special living space in Buckingham Palace known as
the Corgi Room. If you're a fan of Netflix's The Crown, you might already be familiar with this
particular accommodation. This pet-friendly area is perfect for any royal dog who wants to relax
in style. As former royal chef Darren McGrady revealed on his YouTube channel,
these regal canines truly receive the royal treatment. He noted that they sleep in small
wicker baskets in the corgi room and that they're watched after by a couple of footmen.
"Doggie 1 and Doggie 2. That's what we used to call them."
Of course, these royal pooches' high status can also make some of the staff nervous about
interacting with them. McGrady, for one, was worried about his first meeting with the Queen's
prized pups, and his initial encounter with them didn't exactly go as planned. As he put it:
"I saw in the distance the queen and the corgis, and I got really excited."
McGrady's nerves ended up getting the best of him, though, as he recounted,
"As she got closer, the dogs saw me and came running towards me barking like crazy,
all of them. I was so scared, I turned around and ran away.
"And the Queen was laughing. She thought it was really funny. In hindsight, I think it was."
Animal lovers are often willing to overlook their pets' bad habits. That's usually no big deal,
but when you're Queen Elizabeth, her misbehaving pets just might end up on
the news. As the Queen's dresser Angela Kelly recalled in her book The Other Side of the Coin:
the Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, the corgis' carefree lounging can sometimes cause
unfortunate accidents. According to Kelly, jeweler Harry Collins once tripped after
failing to spot a corgi named Linnet lying on the floor. As Kelly put it,
"Terrified that he'd hurt one of The Queen's dogs, Harry frantically rubbed Linnet's chest,
apologizing profusely, but Her Majesty reassured Mr Collins and told him not to worry:
it was not his fault as the corgis had a terrible habit of lying in the most awkward places."
But their choice of resting place is far from the corgis' worst behavior,
as they've reportedly gotten into some pretty nasty tussles with other royal pets.
For example, in 2012, they fought with Princess Beatrice's Norfolk terriers.
As a result, one of the terriers, named Max, suffered terrible injuries
and had to be taken to the vet. A few decades earlier, in 1991, the Queen needed three stitches
after trying to break up a fight between eight of her pets and two of the Queen Mother's corgis.
Many pet owners give their furry friends special meals, but Her Majesty's corgis truly eat like
royalty every day. As former royal chef Darren McGrady revealed to Insider, the Queen's corgis
have their own special menu made up of fresh ingredients. No canned food for these canines!
McGrady went into further detail on his YouTube channel, as he recreated the signature meals
that he would prepare for the royal dogs. When he was first hired, he thought he'd
be cooking for kings and queens and presidents, but then he quickly got a surprising assignment
"One of the first jobs I had was cooking for the corgis, the royal corgis."
According to McGrady, the corgis ate plates of freshly chopped chicken, beef, rabbit, and liver
on a daily basis. Additionally, chopped cabbage and rice were separately mixed into the meats on
specific dogs' plates to help settle the stomachs of those who were dealing with tummy problems.
But the most important part of preparing meals for the royal pets was making sure
that all of the meat was cut down to a fine dice so as to avoid any bones. After all,
no chef wants to be responsible for a royal corgi choking.
Pet owners choose to honor their furballs in a number of different ways after they die.
And when it comes to the animal-loving British royal family, they of course
make sure to give their pets a very special final resting place.
The Sandringham Estate in Norfolk is home to a pet cemetery for royal companions,
and the family chooses to keep the burial plot hidden to ensure privacy for their late pets.
Queen Victoria initially set up the cemetery in 1887 after the death of her collie Noble,
but the spot initially saw little use after its creation. Eventually though, in 1959,
Queen Elizabeth revived the plot to ensure an ideal resting place for her beloved corgi Susan.
Susan rests alongside her descendants Sugar and Heather, all three of whom have
similar gravestones that refer to each as "the faithful companion of the queen." A stone wall
decorated with plaques separates the pet cemetery from the rest of the estate. These memorials offer
tribute to pets like Prince Philip's yellow labrador Candy, who died in 1958, and a black
labrador named Sandringham Slipper, who died in 1980. Other commemoratives include a black lab
named Sandringham Brae, who is remembered as "a gentleman amongst dogs," and a roan cocker
spaniel named Sandringham Fern, who's memorialized as a "tireless worker and mischievous character."
2021 was a year of great loss for Queen Elizabeth. That was when her husband,
Prince Philip, died in April. Then a month later, her dorgi puppy Fergus died as well.
The Prince was 99, while Fergus was only 6 months old. Fergus and another puppy were
actually gifts from the Queen's son, Prince Andrew, to cheer her up while Philip was sick.
"But life, of course, consists of final partings, as well as first meetings."
The Queen was understandably reportedly quite "devastated" at the surprising loss,
but she's hardly without canine companionship at the moment. As of 2022, Elizabeth is the
proud owner of three dogs. There's a 10-year-old dorgi named Candy, another dorgi named Muick,
and a new corgi whose name hasn't been released yet to the public.
The Sun announced the addition of the latest pup back in 2021, stating that the new corgi
was a gift given on what would've been Prince Philip's 100th birthday. A Windsor Castle
insider told the newspaper that Her Majesty was "absolutely delighted" with her new furry pal.
This news of a new dog might come as a shock to some, as it had been reported by Express back
in 2015 that the queen wouldn't be getting any new dogs after her current ones pass away. This
surprising stance was out of fear that Her Majesty would sustain an injury from tripping over one
of the dogs. She even reportedly turned down an offer for two new puppies from her granddaughter,
Princess Beatrice. But of course, being an avid animal lover is a hard habit to kick,
and since then, the Queen has clearly changed her mind about taking in new pets.
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