‘Godsend’: How Queen’s corgi love affair started
The Queen owned more than 30 corgis throughout her reign. Take a look at how the love affair with the breed started.
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The Queen’s much beloved corgis were “family” and the most recent additions were a “godsend” for the late monarch.
She owned more than 30 corgis during her reign and was known for her love of the breed.
Some of dogs’ names included: Whisky, Sherry, Sugar, Myth, Mint, Buzz, Brush, Geordie, Smoky, Dash, Dime, Disco and Dipper.
“My corgis are my family,” she once reportedly said.
Her love affair with the breed started with her father, George IV, who had a male corgi name Dookie. When then Princess turned 18, she was gifted with her first corgi, named Susan.
The Queen went on to breed with Susan, with her last descendant dying in 2018.
Queen’s corgis found new home
The Duke of York and his ex-wife will look after the Queen’s beloved corgis following her death.
A spokeswoman for Andrew said he and Sarah, Duchess of York, will take on Muick and Sandy — two dogs the late monarch received as gifts from her son.
In early 2021, she was given two new puppies, one dorgi and one corgi, as a gift by Prince Andrew while staying at Windsor during lockdown.
The puppies kept the monarch entertained while the Duke of Edinburgh was in hospital and Buckingham Palace and the royals were dealing with the bitter fallout from Megxit and the Sussexes’ Oprah interview.
The Queen named the dorgi Fergus after her uncle who was killed in action during the First World War, and the corgi Muick, pronounced Mick, after Loch Muick on the Balmoral estate.
But the monarch was devastated when five-month-old Fergus died just weeks later, in the aftermath of Prince Philip’s death.
He was later replaced with a new corgi puppy, from Prince Andrew and Princesses Beatrice and Princess Eugenie for her official 95th birthday, who the Queen named Sandy.
The puppies were a constant source of joy for the Queen during lockdown, her dresser Angela Kelly said.
“I was worried they would get under the Queen’s feet, but they have turned out to be a godsend,” she said at the time.
“They are beautiful and great fun and the Queen often takes long walks with them in Home Park.”
Prince Andrew, flanked by his daughters, thanked wellwishers for lining the route back to Balmoral after the royal family attended a prayer service on Saturday.
It was the first time the members of the royal family had been seen together in public since the Queen’s death last Thursday.
Asked by a mourner how things were, Prince Andrew said: “We’ve been allowed one day, now we start the process of handing her on.”
He added: “It’s nice to see you, thank you for coming.”
Meanwhile, Sarah said the Queen was “the most incredible mother-in-law and friend” to her and she would miss her “more than words can express”.
The Queen’s love of corgis was celebrated during Platinum Jubilee events, with a gathering of 70 corgis at Balmoral and a “corgi derby” at Musselburgh racecourse.
Most of the Queen’s corgis were descended from her first corgi, Susan, who was gifted to her on her 18th birthday in 1944. The last corgi to descend from Susan died in 2018.
The Queen looked after her own dogs as much as possible and during weekends spent at Windsor, the corgis went too and lived in her private apartments.
She fed them whenever her busy schedule permitted and also enjoyed walking the dogs.
The 96-year-old was credited with introducing the dorgi, after her corgi Tiny had an encounter with Princess Margaret’s dachshund Pipkin.
QUEEN: ‘MY CORGIS ARE MY FAMILY’
For more than a generation the epitome of all things British royalty has been the Queen, her corgis, Buckingham Palace and fictional character James Bond.
And when all four came together in 2012 the shocked world laughed and cheered her majesty’s sense of humour.
It was a lighthearted but quite defining moment in the reign of Queen Elizabeth when she agreed to be in a filmed sketch greeting Daniel Craig in character as secret agent Bond for the opening of the London Olympics 2012.
Three of her corgis Monty, Holly and Willow bounced alongside the Queen as she ostensibly went on a mission with Bond in the much-loved spoof, the dogs somewhat synonymous of the Crown and her Majesty who had owned more than 30 corgis since her ascension to the throne in 1952.
“My corgis are my family,” she once reportedly said.
Such were the dogs’ dynastic connection to her reign, they even graced the cover of Vanity Fair when she turned 90 in 2016. The Queen insisted her canine companions be part of the cover photo shoot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, such were their importance in her life.
Her father King George VI had one in 1933 named Dookie which a young Elizabeth was very fond of and she was gifted her own corgi Susan as an 18th birthday gift, and went on to breed 10 generations of pups.
But in 2015 the Queen decided to stop breeding the Pembrokeshire Welsh corgis reportedly because she didn’t want to leave any behind when she died. Her last purebred corgi Willow died in 2018 at the age of 15 leaving her with two dorgis, corgi-dachshund crosses.
Palace insiders were concerned by the revelation made by Monty Roberts, a horse whisperer who regularly advised the Queen on her horses.
“She didn’t want to have any more young dogs. She didn’t want to leave any young dog behind. She wanted to put an end to it,” he said.
Royal Central editor Charlie Proctor said the death of Willow was an “immensely sad moment.”
“Willow was the last corgi who descended from the monarch’s first dog Susan after she stopped breeding 10 years ago due to her advancing age,” he said.
The Queen is reported to have left behind Pembroke Welsh corgis Muick and Sandy; a dorgi named Candy, and a cocker spaniel named Lissy.
Grant Harrold, who worked as a butler for Prince Charles, Prince Harry and Prince William, told News Corp the first time he ever “bumped into” the Queen was after meeting her corgis.
“I was on horseback on the Balmoral Estate and as we came towards the castle my horse started getting a bit kind of panicky and I thought there was rabbit or something running around their feet and I looked down and it wasn’t rabbits – it was corgis,” he said.
“At which point I immediately knew if there were corgis the Queen would be nearby and sure enough the Queen was standing just over to the left.
“So it’s absolutely true, as soon as you see a corgi you know the Queen is nearby.”
In February 2021 as a surprise gift from son Prince Andrew, after the death of the Queen’s husband of 73-years Prince Philip, she was given a dorgi puppy named Fergus but it died five months later.
“The Queen is absolutely devastated,” a royal insider told the British press at the time. The puppies were brought in to cheer her up during a very difficult period. Everyone concerned is upset as this comes so soon after she lost her husband.”
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said people had long associated corgis with the Queen.
“In fact, her love of corgis was such that they are world renowned,” he said.
“The corgis have always been something that people have associated with the Queen.
“The image is rather a charming one.”
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Originally published as ‘Godsend’: How Queen’s corgi love affair started
Read related topics:King Charles III
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