The breeder who introduced the Queen to corgis brought her love of dogs to Adelaide

Meet the breeder who introduced a young Princess Elizabeth to corgis – and find out how their friendship is still celebrated every year in Adelaide.

Thelma Gray’s first contact with royalty happened when she was nine. And it wasn’t a promising start. A coach owned by the then-Duke of York ran over her dog. Thelma thought she was owed a new dog and wrote to the royal family asking for a replacement.

The Duke of York, who would become King George VI, was happy enough to oblige but the little girl’s parents were not so keen. But a connection was born that would last a lifetime, and would eventually lead to Queen Elizabeth II inspecting corgis on the lawns of Government House in Adelaide.

Thelma Gray was the person, after all, who introduced the late Queen to her favourite breed of dog, the corgi. When Thelma died in Adelaide in 1984, a long letter from the Queen was read out at the funeral service, held in Unley.

The relationship got on to better footing in 1933, when the Duke of York sent for Thelma, asking her to show some corgi puppies to his daughters, the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. The Duke was unaware Thelma was the same girl whose dog had been killed. And Thelma didn’t tell him.

But the young royals fell in love with the dogs and Thelma and the future Queen started a long friendship.

“My corgis are my family,” the Queen once reportedly said.

Pembroke corgi dog breeder Thelma Gray, who sold the royals their first corgi, Dookie .

Princesses Margaret and Elizabeth with their mother and father, then the Duke and Duchess of York, with their pembroke welsh corgi dogs, Dookie and Jane, at the Royal Lodge, Windsor in June 1936. Picture: Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The first corgi was named Dookie, and the young Elizabeth was very fond of him. The Princess was given her own corgi, Susan, as an 18th birthday gift. After Susan, Elizabeth would breed 10 generations of pups.

The dogs even graced the cover of Vanity Fair when the Queen turned 90 in 2016. Her Majesty insisted her canine companions be part of the cover photo shoot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, such were their importance in her life.

Princess Elizabeth with corgis Dookie and Jane in 1936. Picture: Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II on the cover of Vanity Fair with her pet dog corgis, 2016. Picture: Annie Leibovitz/Vanity Fair

Then, it was a lighthearted but quite defining moment in the reign of the Queen when she agreed to be in a filmed sketch greeting Daniel Craig in character as secret agent James Bond for the opening of the London Olympics in 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 with her Majesty who had owned more than 30 corgis since her ascent to the throne in 1952.

Corgis had a co-starring role in the film shot for the opening of the London Olympics in 2012, with Daniel Craig as British secret agent James Bond accompanying Her Majesty the Queen to the opening ceremony. Picture: Olympics

Thelma became a highly respected dog judge and author in England but moved to South Australia in 1975 and bought a property at Coromandel Valley in the Adelaide Hills. She brought two corgis with her and started a kennel.

But in 1980 after devastating bushfires swept through the Adelaide Hills, Thelma and other dog lovers joined to form the Adelaide Hills Kennel Club.

One of the founding members was Lesley Mackness.

Lesley said Thelma was “an English lady in every sense of the word’’,

“She was very outgoing lady. Very very pleasant to sit and talk to. Very knowledgeable lady of her dogs,’’ Lesley said.

She also said the Queen and Thelma were “very close friends’’, bonded by their love of corgis.

The Queen and Prince Philip with one of their corgis

The Queen greets Lesley Mackness at Government House, Adelaide during the royal visit to South Australia in February 2002.

After Thelma died in 1984, the Queen made a donation to the Adelaide Hills Kennel to buy a perpetual trophy in honour of Thelma Gray, which is known as the Queen’s Trophy, and presented to the best of breed corgi pembroke, the pembrokes being the corgis with the shorter tails.

When it was announced the Queen would visit Adelaide in 2002, Lesley wrote to the palace suggesting the monarch meet all the winners of the trophy given in her name. It was a hopeful request but won the royal seal of approval.

“I was told I was extremely lucky, I didn’t know how lucky I was that this was going to happen,’’ she said. “The Queen said ‘it would happen’. Her words.’’

The Queen with members of Adelaide Hills Kennel Club (l-r) Ken Mansfield and dog Rocky, Cheryl Sheppard, and dog Jimmy, Harry Paynter and dog Bobby, Dee Paterson and dog Sophy, Colleen Webb and dog Wade, Wilf Purchase and dog Ruby and Bill Godfrey at Govenment House during royal visit to South Australia, February 2002.

Also at Government House that day was Thelma’s son Jeremy, whom the Queen remembered from visiting his house when he was a young boy to see his mother.

“She (the Queen) used to sit on the floor and play with the puppies (with Jeremy),’’ Lesley said. “He grew up with the Queen going down to their house.’’

The current 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.

Pembroke Corgi Figaro is the current holder of the Queen’s Trophy from the Adelaide Hills Kennel Club. Figaro also won a Queen’s medallion at the Royal Adelaide Show last week. Figaro is pictured with his professional handler Darcy Clark. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

In early 2021, while staying at Windsor during lockdown she was given two new puppies, one dorgi and one corgi, by Prince Andrew .

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.”

Kitty Flynn, breeder of Figaro, the dog who presently holds the Queen’s Trophy said it was “very special’’ to win the prize.

“It’s a very, very great honour to be presented with this trophy in memory of Thelma Gray, who started the Queen off with her corgis,’’she said. “It’s the one everyone wants to win.’’