A then Princess Elizabeth as a child with her sister Princess Margaret, father King George VI, the Queen Mother and the Queen’s corgis (Credit: Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The Queen has always been known for her love of Pembrokeshire Corgis. Her first corgi, Susan, was an 18th birthday present, and Her Majesty was so besotted with her that she took her on her honeymoon 3 years later, apparently much to the despair of Prince Phillip who found corgis "too yappy".
Princess Diana is famous for having described the Queen's pack of corgis "a moving carpet" because they followed the monarch everywhere she went.
The Queen's corgis have a special room at Buckingham Palace, with wicker baskets with sheets in which are changed every day, and are served fresh food for their royal din-dins which is prepared by staff in the Buckingham Palace kitchen. They are normally fed on rabbit, chicken, liver, beef, cabbage and rice. The Queen often feeds the dogs herself, mixing up their dinner with a fork and spoon (somehow I don't think it's one of those plastic pet food mixing forks, do you?).
Three of the Queen's corgis — Holly, Monty and Willow — appeared alongside the Queen and James Bond in a skit for the opening of the 2012 London Olympics.
In 2015, the Queen announced that she had stopped breeding corgis as she didn't want to leave any behind when she dies. In 2018, she lost Willow, her last corgi from the line bred from her original dog, Susan.
However in 2021, she bought two new puppies, named Fergus (a dorgi) and Muick (a corgi), to keep her company whilst Prince Philip was recovering from heart surgery. Very sadly Fergus died at only 5 months, leaving the Queen devastated. Prince Andrew then gifted her another dorgi named Candy.
Chow Bella was very excited to learn that in a break from tradition, the Queen took on a cocker spaniel named Lissy in January this year.
Lissy is a four-year-old working cocker, whose pedigree name is Wolferton Drama. She recently won the 91st Kennel Club Cocker Spaniel Championship, and was named Lissy after Queen Elizabeth herself. Lissy's trainer, Ian Openshaw, said in an interview with the Royal Mail, that "Lissy used to be a bit of a monkey when she was younger, but she has really come into her own now."
Rumour has it that the Queen was inspired by Prince William and Kate's own cocker spaniel Lupo. Perhaps cocker spaniels will become the official royal breed? Let's hope so.
Now if I can just get the Queen to order an Ear Free Bowl...
And if you're wondering whether the Queen was sent one of our Limited Edition Platinum Jubilee mugs (all sold out!)? Of course she was! Let's hope she can accept it.
Dog Save The Queen!
