I have to admit that my sisters and I shed a few doggy tears when we recently watched our Queen’s funeral with our pawrents. It was pawticularly touching to see her horse, Emma, and her two corgis, Muick and Sandy, looking on from a distance. These doggies were gifts from her son, Prince Andrew, and his daughters in 2021 and they will now be looked after by Andrew himself, and his ex wife Sarah Ferguson who both live at the Royal Lodge on the Windsor Estate. However, we mustn’t forget the Queen’s other dog, a four year old cocker spaniel called Lissy, who is now living with her trainer. She will no doubt be very sad to never see her mum again. Ziggy Bear, Clara and I sent out a message soon after the funeral with some pictures of our Queen and her dogs at various stages in her life, and we were amazed when we saw all the lovely, warm comments by humans around the world – our comments were seen by well over four million humans and doggies. How wooftastic is that!
Now I have recently been doing a lot of research about the Queen and her four legged companions. Did you know that she said that her corgis were her family? She absolutely adored the breed. Over her lifetime she had many corgis and apparently it all started when she was just a seven year old girl. In 1933 she had some friends who had one and she loved it so much she decided she wanted one too. Her father and mother also adored them. Since the age of seven she had never been without a corgi in her life and even used to breed them. She never sold any of her puppies though – they all stayed with her or were given to breeders, relatives or friends.
Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, would often walk with the corgis scampering ahead of them. She called the woof woofs her ‘girls’ and ‘boys’. Princess Diana is said to have called them ‘a moving carpet’. They went where the Queen went, from palace to palace, on helicopters, trains and limousines. It seems as if they never wanted for anything.
It is said that Prince Philip did not share his wife’s passion for her corgis. Apparently he used to complain about them, saying to her at least on one occasion, ‘Bloody dogs! Why do you have to have so many?’ One year, when the Barking Bugle team went to Sandringham to see the Royal Family come out of the church at Christmas, Prince Philip looked at Frodo (BB founder) sitting in his stroller and asked my pawrents, ‘Is he dead?’ He certainly had a sense of humour and I can quite imagine him moaning about the Queen’s beloved corgis!
When I was doing my research I discovered that Elizabeth also had dorgis, a cross between dachshunds and corgis. This all came about because her sister, Princess Margaret, had a dachshund called Pipkin, and this dog mated with a corgi named Tiny in the 1970s. Both the Queen and her sister loved the resulting puppies so much so that they began to breed them. Ten dorgis were born over the years, all of which had long tails but were smaller than pedigree corgis. The royal household’s breeding programme ended several years ago, as the Queen was said to be unwilling to leave young dogs behind when she died.
The Queen’s mother, who also loved corgis, introduced a very disciplined regime for the doggies. Their diet was approved of by veterinary experts and they used to eat at 5pm precisely. Their menu was typed up every day and hung in the royal kitchen. Needless to bark that they ate really well; their meals were prepared by a gourmet chef you know! Sometimes the Queen herself poured gravy over their meals before they began woofing it down. Extra treats were handed out for celebrations and rewards.
The corgis slept inside the Queen’s private apartment at Buckingham Palace where there was a special corgi room in which wicker beds were raised, lined with cushions to keep draughts away. The doggies even had special rubber-soled booties made for them to protect their feet from gravel as they walked about the palace grounds.
At Christmas at Sandringham the Queen used to make individual stockings for all her doggies and put treats in each one.
Although the corgis were a lovely part of the Queen’s life, allowing her to relax from the rigours of her duties, there have been a few issues! In 1968 Labour MP Peter Doig (Now, that’s a superb name, isn’t it?) called for the royal staff to put up a ‘Beware of the dog sign’ at Balmoral after one of the corgis bit a postman.
In 1989 it was repawted that the royal family had hired an animal psychologist to tame the dogs after they developed a habit of nipping the staff. Indeed in 1991 the Queen herself was bitten and had to have three stitches in her left hand after trying to break up a fight between ten or so of her corgis.
There have been some super pawsome highlights of the Queen with her beloved corgis over the years. I was too young to remember but I hear that in 2012, among the opening scenes created for the London Olympics, her three dogs named Monty, Willow and Holly were featured alongside Elizabeth and Daniel Craig in the James Bond sketch. During the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June this year there was a gathering of 70 corgis at Balmoral and a ‘corgi derby’ at Musselburgh racecourse.
During her life it is obvious the Queen really doted on her corgis. Royal author, Penny Junor, wrote, ‘Dogs and horses are her passion and it is with them and the people who share that passion that she truly relaxes. Horses are a rich man’s game but dogs are not. They are a great leveller and attract people from all walks of life. Over the years she made genuine friendships with many dog owners.’
At the Barking Bugle we love doggies of all breeds and sizes. The Queen did too, particularly her corgis. These wonderful furry animals are now known across the globe because of Elizabeth. Many items such as statues and other works of art have been dedicated to them. What a truly lovely, inspirational, dutiful and caring lady she was! Although we have met many humans in the Royal family unfortunately we never got the oppawtunity to give her our woofs of appreciation. May she rest in peace with all the doggies she has known who have crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge!
If you’d like to hear more tail-wagging royal adventures, sniff out our other blog post right here. Go on, it’s pawsitively majestic! 🐶✨
Huge woofs,
Miss Zsa Zsa Gapaw – Canine Editor at The Barking Bugle
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