From the late Queen Elizabeth’s iconic corgis to Kate and William’s cocker spaniels, the British Royal Family have been famous for their love of dogs for generations. The 96-year-old monarch left behind two corgis, Sandy and Muick, and a cocker spaniel, named Lissy, when she passed away on 8 September 2022 and owned as many as 30 corgis during her reign. In fact, she was well-known for her love of all creatures, great and small, including those of a more exotic variety, as we discover later on. But what happened to her beloved pets? Click or scroll on to find out...
The Queen reportedly entrusted her dogs to son Andrew and his wife Sarah before she passed, and the royal exes have been sharing custody of these furry new flatmates for a year now. Lissy the cocker spaniel, who has the impressive pedigree name Wolferton Drama, is reportedly living with her trainer, Ian Openshaw. While Candy the dorgi, the result of a dalliance between Tiny, the Queen's corgi, and Pipkin, Princess Margaret's sausage dog, sadly passed not long before the Queen, Muick, named after The Queen's favourite place, Loch Muick in Balmoral and a gift from Prince Andrew and Sandy, a present from Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie on her official 95th birthday, survived her.
As Sarah Ferguson found the puppies that were gifted to Her Majesty, it feels fitting that she and Andrew should be looking after them since her death. Fans of the Queen’s corgis will be pleased to learn that they are still “thriving" according to a recent Instagram post from Fergie commemorating the anniversary of the Queen’s death. Prince Andrew took the pooches to live with him and Sarah in the Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park. It'll be a busy home for them all as he reportedly already had five Norfolk terriers when he took on the additional two. We're sure the dogs have staff though...
Never happier than when she was with her dogs, the Queen would have been grateful that when the time came on 8 September 2022, she passed away at Balmoral, her favourite place on earth, surrounded by her beloved four-legged friends. The oldest of her three corgi/dorgi clan, Candy, who died shortly before the Queen, can be seen with her in January 2022 as she celebrated her jubilee at Windsor Castle.
The first corgis, Dookie and Jane, joined the royal family in 1933, when the Duke of York, later King George V1, acquired two for his daughters Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. Here they are in front of miniature cottage Y Bwthyn Bach (the Welsh House) in the grounds of Royal Lodge, Windsor. The princesses were first introduced to the breed by the children of Viscount Weymouth.
Princess Elizabeth, photographed here in 1936 with Dookie and Jane. Dookie, originally named Rozavel Golden Eagle, earned the nickname when he went away to be trained and staff, aware his owner was the Duke of York, called him 'Dookie' for short. The name stuck when he returned home and it became clear he would only respond to his new nickname.
Corgis were not the only breed to live alongside the royal family during their carefree childhood days at Royal Lodge. The Duke and Duchess of York also had retrievers, spaniels, a labrador called Mimsy and a shih tzu called Choo Choo (pictured). But the Pembroke corgi sparked a fascination for the breed in the young princess, which lasted her entire life.
It is thanks to the Queen’s father King George VI that there are so many photographs of the Princess and her pets. A keen amateur photographer, the King took many charming photographs of his family (here in the gardens of Royal Lodge) playing with the family’s dogs and ensured a carefree childhood that would prepare the Princess so well for her life ahead as Queen.
Elizabeth's most treasured corgi of all was Susan, who was gifted to the Princess on her 18th birthday in 1944. The Queen owned well over 30 corgis and dorgis, a cross between a dachshund and a Welsh corgi, most of which can trace their lineage back to Susan. However, her beloved canine wasn’t always on her best behaviour however, reportedly biting a member of the Queen’s Guard in 1954.
The Queen made sure there were plenty of animals around when her own children were growing up, whether the family were at home in Windsor or on holiday in their summer home, Balmoral – here with Princes Andrew and Edward (above). Prince Philip may not have approved however: it is reported that the Duke 'loathed' the little dogs because they were “too yappy”.
The Queen insisted on taking her corgis with her everywhere and they were often seen scrambling on and off trains and planes. “My corgis are my family,” she said. She cut quite a stylish figure here with her canine companions at Aberdeen Airport in 1974 setting off on her summer holidays to Balmoral.
Several of her dogs, Monty, Willow and Holly, made their TV debut alongside Her Majesty and Daniel Craig in a James Bond sketch in 2012 on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee. Holly died in 2016 while Willow, the last of the corgis descended from Susan, died in 2018 leaving the Queen devastated. Her dogs even inspired an animated movie called The Queen's Corgis, which stars Jack Whitehall and Dame Julie Walters as voice actors.
Such was her affection for her animals, the late monarch ensured they were given a dignified burial that would befit their significance in her life. These gravestones for corgis Susan, Sugar, and Heather, are located on the Sandringham estate. Another much-loved corgi, Whisper, is also buried here. She had adopted him following the death of his owner, Bill Fenwick, who was gamekeeper on the estate.
Read more: It's not just the Queen who loved her animal companions, let's meet more royal pets...
Susan the corgi, pictured here with the Queen in 1953, began an estimated 14 generations of royal corgis and died at Sandringham in 1959, showing that royal pets were commonplace for decades. But the entire royal family has been fond of a furry friend or two over the years. From ponies and puppies, to a tortoise and even chameleon, let's meet the animal companions the British Royals have loved.
King Charles lll inherited his mother’s love of dogs and was often photographed with his labrador Harvey, who was on hand for his first official photocall with Lady Diana Spencer at Craigowan Lodge, Balmoral in May 1981, following the announcement of their engagement. According to royal biographer Penny Junor, the then Prince Charles eventually had to rehouse the dog “to appease the desperately unhappy Diana” because she thought he was smelly.
King Charles lll and Camilla, the Queen Consort, placed their two Jack Russell terriers, Beth and Bluebell, at the centre of their official photograph to mark their 15th wedding anniversary in April 2020. The Queen Consort adopted the two dogs from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, of which she is patron, and the King is a long-time fan of the breed, owning two other Jack Russells, Pooh and Tigga, in the 1990s.
Like most members of the royal family, William, the Prince of Wales, was encouraged to start riding almost as soon as he could walk. Here he is with his Shetland pony Smokey, the royal family’s choice of breed for a child’s debut in the saddle, at Highgrove House in 1986. The Prince has also encouraged his own children to ride and borrowed his cousin Zara Tindall’s Shetland pony when Prince George was four.
Poignantly, this photograph was taken just a couple of weeks prior to the death of Princess Diana in Paris in 1997. The Princes are on their summer holiday in Balmoral with their father King Charles, along with the family Jack Russell Tigga and Prince William’s black labrador Widgeon, which was gifted to him by his mother and died in 2010. The Prince still keeps a photo of his beloved dog on his desk in Kensington Palace.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have their own set of well-loved pets. Lupo the English cocker spaniel had been a wedding gift to the pair from Kate’s parents and was often seen at family get-togethers. At the heart of their family life for nine years, Lupo sadly died in November 2020. “We will miss him so much,” the couple said on their Instagram post. Here, Lupo is at a charity polo match in Tetbury in June 2012. He also featured in the couple's first official photograph with Prince George, which was taken by the Princess's father.
The Prince and Princess of Wales released three new photographs of their daughter with their new cocker spaniel Orla to celebrate Princess Charlotte’s seventh birthday on 2 May 2022. Orla, whose name is derived from the Irish spelling, Órlaith, meaning 'golden princess', came to live with the family shortly before Lupo passed away and is a well-established member of the family.
Orla was raised by Kate’s brother James Middleton, who announced his dog Luna, Lupo’s sister, had given birth to “six healthy little pups” in the spring of 2020, seen here with his wife Alizée, on their Instagram. "I am sad to see you go, and yes I might cry but it will be with happiness as each of your new homes are bursting with love," James wrote to the puppies.
Prince Harry had another, slightly larger pet. He shared Smokey the Shetland pony with his brother Prince William. He looks slightly unsure here in this photograph taken at Highgrove House in 1986 but has since proved a formidable rider and a keen polo player. Harry was seen playing in a match in Santa Barbara close to his Montecito home in May 2022.
A passionate animal lover, Harry's wife Meghan often posted pictures of her 'boys': rescue beagle Guy and labrador-shepherd mix Bogart, before she became engaged to the prince. Apparently, Bogart never took to Harry and Meghan had to leave him with a friend in Vancouver when she moved to London in 2017. She revealed it was Ellen DeGeneres who convinced her to adopt Bogart, when she bumped into her at an animal shelter.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex now have three dogs, Meghan’s rescue beagle Guy, a black labrador they adopted and named Pula, and another rescue beagle named Mamma Mia – Mia for short. The pula is the official currency of Botswana, the African country where Harry and Meghan enjoyed their first holiday together after they began dating in 2016. Pula made an impromptu appearance in Meghan’s interview with activist Gloria Steinem for female empowerment platform Makers Women in August 2020. The interview was recorded at the couple’s home in Montecito.
While the late Queen’s daughter Princess Anne is more often associated with horses (she competed in the 1976 Olympics in the equestrian three-day event on her mother’s horse Goodwill), she has kept English bull terriers for decades. This breed is very on-brand for the famously outdoorsy, no-frills royal, who has been spotted driving with her dogs poking their heads out the window.
Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Phillips, who won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics, and rugby player husband Mike are also dog fans. The couple has three dogs, all named after film characters. Here’s one of their three children, daughter Mia in 2017 at the Gatcombe Horse Trials with their boxer Sway, named after Angelina Jolie’s Gone in 60 seconds character. They also have two labradors called Pepper and Storm after characters in Iron Man and X-Men.
Prince Edward posed with his black labrador Frances, for this photo in the grounds of Buckingham Palace to mark his 18th birthday. The Earl of Wessex, his wife Sophie and their two children, Lady Louise Windsor, 18, and James, Viscount Severn, 15, have two dogs at their home Bagshot Park, along with a tortoise, who according to the Earl, “basically runs the house!”
A tortoise is not the most unusual pet the royals have owned. That prize goes to a lizard. A young Princess Elizabeth – above with her sister Princess Margaret in 1941 – was not adverse to playing with creatures of a more exotic variety. Lord Louis Mountbatten gave the girls a large chameleon, which Elizabeth, then aged 15, kept in a box lined with a page from Debrett’s. When the lizard died, she insisted on having a small white coffin made for him. “We must bury him in a proper state,” she said.
While there is an abundance of dogs in the Royal Family, there only appears to be one proud owner of cats: Princess Michael of Kent, pictured here in 1984 outside her former home Nether Lypiatt Manor. She has, over the years, owned a variety of Siamese and Burmese felines. She was even photographed on her 70th birthday in January 2015 holding her Siamese wearing a diamond and pearl tiara.
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