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Journalism of Courage
Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch passed away at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday (September 8). While the plan of action following her death was carefully laid out, there is uncertainty over the fate of her cherished dogs: the famous corgis.
An enduring symbol of her legacy, the corgi breed has come to be associated with Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year-long reign. She had a lifelong love for her pet corgis, who accompanied her during vacations and official events in Buckingham Palace, her honeymoon, and even featured in her official photos and portraits. Fed gourmet meals of rabbit, steak and vegetables made by royal chefs, the corgis were even given their own stockings on Christmas by the Queen, filled with toys and doggy treats.
The Queen’s royal corgis
The Queen gave her dogs quirky names like Disco, Kelpie, Puck and Bramble, and throughout her life had more than 30 corgis and “dorgis”, as per a report in The Guardian. Her four-legged friends frequently accompanied her and as described by the late Princess Diana, walked before her like a “moving carpet”. The Queen’s first corgi, Susan, was beneath travel rugs in her carriage during her honeymoon, according to The Guardian.
Though Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms, the corgis slept in the Queen’s private apartment, and according to the BBC-cited book ‘All The Queen’s Corgis’ by royal author Penny Junor, “There is a special corgi room where they have raised wicker baskets lined with cushions” to keep them warm.
But not everyone in the royal household enjoyed the same affection for the Queen’s companions, as her husband Prince Philip was once heard grumbling, “Bloody dogs! Why do you have to have so many?” according to several media reports.
The beginning of royal corgis
Queen Elizabeth’s love for corgis can be traced to her childhood, when in 1933, at the age of seven, her father King George VI, brought a puppy called Dookie for his children.
In 1944, for her 18th birthday, Elizabeth’s father gave her another corgi named Susan, notorious for biting the ankles of a royal clock wind, attacking the legs of many servants, a detective, a police officer and a Grenadier guardsman, reported The Guardian. Despite her death in 1959, her legacy lived on, as for the next 60 years Elizabeth would continue breeding corgis from Susan’s lineage. Her last descendent, Willow, was put down in 2018 after battling cancer.
Monty Roberts, a friend and horse adviser to the Queen, told Vanity Fair in an interview in 2015, that three years prior, after losing one of her dogs, she decided to not get any new corgis because “She didn’t want to leave any young dog behind. She wanted to put an end to it.” She changed her mind after the death of Prince Philip in 2021, when two puppies were given by her family.
The creation of the “dorgi”
Queen Elizabeth was not only responsible for popularizing the corgi across Britain but is also said to have introduced the world to the dorgi, by breeding her corgi Tiny with her sister Princess Margaret’s even smaller dachshund named Pipkin in the 1970s. When asked by royal photographers how they were able to mate given their size difference, the Queen replied, “Oh, it’s very simple: we have a little brick they can stand on.”
The UK Kennel Club was, however, unimpressed. The Guardian quoted them as saying, “The dachshund was evolved to chase badgers down holes, and the corgis to round up cattle. If anyone loses a herd of cattle down a badger hole, then these are just the dogs to get them out,” it said, sniffily, at the time.
What will happen to them?
At least four dogs remain according to NPR – two corgis named Muick and Sandy, a dorgi named Candy and Lissy, a cocker spaniel who joined the pack in January this year. The royal family is yet to make an official statement on the dogs.
Experts such as royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter say the family or the staff could be entrusted with them. Arbiter told The Independent that the Queen left no stone unturned and there is undoubtedly a plan for their lives after her death. “We can only speculate on plans for the corgis – nothing is left to chance with the royal family,” she said.
The royal family has dog lovers, though none are particularly fond of corgis, she said. “The Queen was definitely the lord and master and had a wonderful way with them. They were known to nip ankles of the royal family.”
