What will happen to the queen’s royal pack of corgis?

By Jenny Gross 

Among the many changes that the death of Queen Elizabeth II. has raised for Britain, there will be one that will touch the smallest and perhaps cutest members of the royal family: the monarch's pack of four royal dogs. These include two corgis, a corgi-dachshund cross (known as a dorgi) and a cocker spaniel.

Buckingham Palace did not respond to a request for comment on who will now look after the dogs named Candy, Lissy, Muick and Sandy. But wherever the royal canines end up, they may have to get used to a home less luxurious than a castle. Charles, who will be officially crowned king on Saturday, reportedly prefers Jack Russell terriers to Pembroke Welsh corgis.

The Queen had more than 30 dogs during her seven-year reign, many of them corgis. But corgis don't have a long royal history - Elizabeth and her sister Margaret became the first people in the royal family to own one when they were given to King George VI, then Duke of York, in 1933 as young princesses. a puppy named Dookie. Another corgi, Jane, joined the royal family soon after, until 1944 when she was hit by a car. On Elizabeth's 18th birthday, she got another corgi, a two-month-old puppy named Sue, who became known as Susan.

"Susan is the one who was with her during her courtship with Prince Philip, who accompanied her on her honeymoon, who was there when her father died," said Ciara Farrell, library and collections manager at the Kennel Club, Britain's largest dog breed organisation. for the well-being of dogs. “Susan was a really special dog to her.
The Queen has kept corgis from Susan's line for eight decades, and over the years the Queen has taken her dogs with her on foreign visits. She was also photographed walking the grounds of Windsor Castle with them.

The Pembroke Welsh corgi peaked in popularity in the 1960s in Britain, in the years after the Queen ascended the throne, in 1961 over 8,000 corgi puppies were registered. However, they became much less popular in the following decades and hit a low in 2014 when only 274 corgi puppies were registered, Ms Farrell said.
The breed has become so closely associated with the royal family that corgis have appeared in pop culture depictions of the monarchy, particularly in the last decade. Believed to be a direct 14th generation descendant of Susan, Willow was one of three corgis to appear in the sketch that opened the 2012 London Olympics.
"It brought corgis back into the public consciousness," Ms Farrell said.

Corgis have become more popular in recent years, with over 1,000 corgi puppies registered with the Kennel Club last year. Ms Farrell said the three corgis' high-profile performance in a London Olympics sketch, as well as their roles in shows such as "The Crown", "Bridgerton" and an animated comedy called "The Queen's Corgi", contributed to this.

The Queen also had gun dogs, Labradors, and cocker spaniels who lived at the royal estate at Sandringham in Norfolk, England, Ms Farrell said.

Earlier last year, the Queen received two new puppies, a corgi, and a dorgi - gifts from her son Prince Andrew, according to The Daily Mail - as Britain entered a month-long lockdown due to the coronavirus. Local media reported that the Queen, who was 96 when she died, took her dogs for long walks well into her 90s.