- September 9, 2022
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What happens to the Queen's dogs? – Daily Mail
By Aneeta Bhole For Dailymail.Com and PA Media
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What will come of the Queen’s beloved dogs after her passing Thursday at the age of 96?
Britain’s longest-serving monarch leaves behind four royal canines – two corgis, Candy and Muick, a corgi-dachshund cross – or ‘dorgi’ – named Sandy, and her most recent addition, Lissy, a cocker spaniel she named after herself.
The future of a royal dog dynasty remains unclear – but a royal biographer says she thinks they may end up with the monarch’s ‘favorite son,’ Prince Andrew – or will be given to members of the royal family’s longtime staff, who have looked after the animals for decades.
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward told Newsweek that the Queen’s love for her dogs has been unmatched over the years and it’s likely they’ll find a home among the royal family.
‘She loves animals and she absolutely adores dogs. She always has, they were her first love and they will be her last,’ said Seward.
‘I imagine the dogs would be looked after by the family, probably Andrew [as] he’s the one that gave them to her. They’re quite young, the corgi and the dorgi.’
The author of the book All The Queen’s Corgis, Penny Junor, also suggested that the dogs may be cared for by the Queen’s staff.
‘Care of the dogs has fallen sometimes to footmen but mostly to the Queen’s trusted dressmaker, assistant and right-hand woman, Angela Kelly; and to her equally trusted page of many years standing, Paul Whybrew, who was seen walking with the Queen and the dogs in the James Bond spoof,’ she wrote in her 2018 book.
‘Both are fond of the dogs, have unfettered access to the Queen and are said to be very close to her.’
The snappy little dogs had a penchant for nipping servants’ ankles, but the Queen was devoted to her corgis.
Queen Elizabeth with one of her remaining four dogs Candy (pictured)
Photos of the monarch through the years were never without a dog by her side
In 2021 the Queen was given two new puppies (pictured) Fergus and Muick by Prince Andrew the Duke of York. Fergus sadly died just weeks later, but was replaced with a new corgi puppy
Queen Elizabeth II was often seen walking her beloved pets across the grounds
Her first, Susan, was given to her as an 18th birthday present by her parents in 1944.
The Queen had fallen in love with her father’s dog Dookie, a Pembrokeshire corgi, and wanted one of her own.
Susan became the founder of the Queen’s royal dog dynasty but she was not always well-behaved.
She bit a royal clock winder on the ankle and was also rather partial to going for servants’ legs.
Her grandson, Whisky, apparently tore the seat out of a Guards officer’s trousers.
The Queen owned more than 30 dogs, some of whom were directly descendent of Susan
In 1936 King George VI acquired a second Corgi named Jane who had puppies, two were kept and named Carol and Crackers. Queen Elizabeth II would often be seen alongside the pooches
The royal dog dynasty started in 1933 but Queen Elizabeth was known to have had more than 30 corgis during her life
It is unknown what will come of her remaining four dogs however experts believe they will remain within the royal family
During her reign, the Queen owned more than 30 corgis, many of them direct descendants from Susan, who was so loved that she accompanied Princess Elizabeth on her honeymoon.
In April 2018, the Queen was left devastated when Willow, her final corgi descended from Susan, died.
She had adopted a corgi Whisper following the death of its owner, a former Sandringham gamekeeper, but Willow was the last one with links to her line of corgis.
Whisper died in October 2018, leaving the Queen without any corgis at all.
Queen Elizabeth II (right) was bitten on the left hand while trying to break up a fight between six of her corgis and two of the Queen Mother’s (left) at Windsor
The Queen introduced the world to a new breed of dog, a corgi cross dachshund, and had several ‘dorgis’ during her reign as well
The Queen made her dogs into a national symbol during her seven decade reign of the British monarchy
It had been suggested she would not take on any more puppies from the breed because she did want to leave any young dogs behind.
Her two remaining dogs were dorgis, Candy and Vulcan, but Vulcan died in December 2020, leaving the monarch with just one dog, Candy.
But then early in 2021, the Queen was given two new puppies, one dorgi and one corgi, as a gift by the Duke of York while staying in lockdown at Windsor.
The puppies kept the delighted monarch entertained while the Duke of Edinburgh was in the hospital and Buckingham Palace and the royals were dealing with the bitter fallout from Megxit and the Sussexes’ Oprah interview.
A bizarre concern for the welfare of her remaining canines sparked across Twitter following Queen Elizabeth II’s passing
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 with five-month-old Fergus died just weeks later, in the aftermath of Philip’s death.
He was later replaced with a new corgi puppy, from Andrew and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie for her official 95th birthday, whom the Queen named Sandy.
The puppies were a constant source of joy for the monarch during the lockdown, her dresser Angela Kelly said.
In March 2020, as the Queen headed for the safety of Windsor during England’s first lockdown, she was spotted being driven away from the Palace with her dorgis in tow.
The Queen introduced the new breed of dog known as the ‘dorgi’ when her corgi Tiny was mated with a dachshund ‘sausage dog’ called Pipkin which belonged to Princess Margaret.
When asked how the diminutive dachshunds coped with the comparatively colossal corgis, the Queen reportedly replied in a matter-of-fact fashion: ‘Oh, it’s very simple – we have a little brick they stand on.’
Her Majesty’s preferred breed of dog was not everybody’s favorite.
Her son Charles, for one, likes Jack Russells more than Welsh corgis, as they are officially known.
Corgis are liable to bite people’s legs because their forebears rounded up sheep by snapping at their feet.
After the passing of Prince Philip (right) Queen Elizabeth (left) was given two corgi puppies from her son the Duke of York, Prince Andrew
During her royal travels Queen Elizabeth often met many different corgi enthusiasts (pictured)
The monarch’s love of dogs was seen to extend beyond the royal dog dynasty
1933: Dookie is bought by the Queen’s father, George VI after admiring his friend’s corgi
1936: King George VI acquired a second Corgi named Jane who had puppies, two were kept and named Carol and Crackers
1944: Queen Elizabeth receives her first pet corgi, Susan, as a gift for her 18th Birthday. Susan becomes the head of a dynasty of royal dogs
The Queen goes on to own more than 30 dogs, some of whom were directly descendent of Susan
1989: The Queen Mother’s dog, Ranger, kills the Queen’s dorgi (corgi cross dachshunds) Chipper
1991: Queen Elizabeth II is bitten on the left hand while trying to break up a fight between six of her corgis and two of the Queen Mother’s at Windsor
2003: Pharos, one of the Queen’s oldest corgis, is sadly savaged by another dog before being put down
2012: Monty, Willow and Holly star in a James Bond sketch with the Queen for the London Olympic opening ceremony. Monty died just months later
2016: Holly is put down in October after suffering an illness, leaving Willow as the Queen’s final corgi – and the last descendant of Susan
2018: The Queen’s beloved corgi Willow, the final descendant of Susan dies, in April
Whisper, a corgi the Queen adopted after the death of its owner, dies in October leaving the Queen with no corgis
2020: Two dorgis, Candy and Vulcan, remain alive. In December Vulcan dies
2021: The monarch is left with one dog, Candy, until early 2021 when the Queen is given two new puppies, one dorgi, Fergus and one corgi, Muick (pronounced Mick) by Prince Andrew the Duke of York
Fergus sadly dies just weeks later, at five months old, following Prince Philip’s death in April
The Duke of York replaces Fergus with a new corgi puppy, Sandy, shortly after the passing of Prince Philip
2022: In January Queen Elizabeth becomes the owner of a cocker spaniel she names Lissy after herself
Queen Elizabeth II dies at age 96, four dogs survive, Candy (dorgi), Sandy (corgi), Muick (corgi) and Lissy (cocker spaniel).
One footman at the Palace found a novel way of getting his own back.
He spiked the dogs’ food and water with whisky and gin, then watched in amusement as the tipsy animals staggered around.
But his act of treason was discovered and he was demoted.
Singer Max Bygraves once revealed how, when dining with the Queen, a flatulent corgi left him red-faced.
‘I hope you don’t think that was me,’ he told the Queen.
At one stage, the Queen was forced to call in a dog psychiatrist when her corgis kept setting upon each other.
The worst incident was when Ranger, who belonged to the Queen Mother, killed the Queen’s dorgi Chipper in 1989.
Two years later the Queen was bitten on the left hand while trying to break up a fight between six of her corgis and two of the Queen Mother’s at Windsor.
She needed three stitches and her chauffeur needed a tetanus jab.
Canine psychiatrist Dr Roger Mugford prescribed an ear-piercing rape alarm which the Queen used to break up the dog fights.
He also sent the leader of the pack, Apollo, to live with Princess Anne.
But sometimes it was the corgis who found themselves under attack.
After Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, the future of the pooches, was at the top of the list of concerns, after comments made by her equine expert Monty Roberts resurfaced from a Vanity Fair article from 2015.
Roberts told Vanity Fair, at the time, that the monarch had named a corgi after her but didn’t want to have any more ‘young dogs’ so as not to ‘leave any young dogs behind.’
Bizarre concerns were raised on social media by people worried her dogs may be ‘entombed with the body.’
‘Desperately googling who I need to seduce to get into the royal family and save the corgis from being entombed with the body,’ said one Twitter user.
‘Is anybody thinking about the corgis are they going down pharaoh style?’ said another.
Apart from concern for the welfare of her dogs, the Queen’s death sparked an immediate and huge outpouring of emotion, with thousands of heartbroken mourners gathering outside the gates of Buckingham Palace and other royal buildings this evening.
At one point, a rendition of ‘God Save The Queen’ rang out among the mourners, followed by cheers of ‘Long Live The King’.
Others laid flowers outside Windsor Castle – where The Queen had spent much of her time following the death of her beloved husband, Prince Philip, in April last year.
And in a sign of the Queen’s considerable worldwide influence and appeal, royal fans laid flowers outside British embassies including in Washington, Berlin and Oslo.
The Queen poses for a photograph in the drawing room at Balmoral shortly before her meeting with Ms Truss, whom she appointed as her Prime Minister
Andrew, Edward, his wife Sophie, and William all flew in from Berkshire via private jet to Aberdeen yesterday as they dashed to Balmoral to see her. But it is understood that they did not make it in time
Even the royal household’s staff were in tears yesterday, coming to terms with the loss of their much-loved boss, as well as the head of state.
One said: ‘However much you try to prepare yourself for this moment, it just hits you like a ton of bricks. She is irreplaceable. I just can’t believe we won’t see that impish smile again. There is a deep sense of shock.’
The Queen’s son Charles, the former Prince of Wales, is now King Charles III, while Prince William has inherited his father’s title and is now, along with his wife, styled The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge. William is also now the ‘heir apparent’ to the British throne.
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