The Queen was left smitten with a tiny puppy when she opened a dog-friendly garden at a leading animal sanctuary.
Camilla declared “I’d have taken him” when told the once homeless tiny Jack Russell cross had found an owner during a visit to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
The Queen officially launched the garden, co-designed for dogs by TV gardener and author Monty Don, at the charity in south London after it was first unveiled at the Chelsea Flower Show before moving to its new site.
She told guests who included celebrity supporters Amanda Holden, Sue Perkins, David Gandy and Dame Jacqueline Wilson she had followed the garden’s progress.
She said: “I feel like I’ve watched it grow up.
“I saw it at the planning stage, I saw it at Chelsea, and I’ve seen it here, where it’s going to be so wonderful for all the dogs to roam around.”
Camilla has taken in three rescue dogs from the famous animal sanctuary over the years, with her latest pet called Moley, but she said the animal was left at home because of the hot weather.
When the Queen first arrived, she was greeted by some of Battersea’s more cuddly resident dogs, including seven-week-old Dipsy who she tickled behind the ear.
When told by Nake Florin, the charity’s behaviour manager responsible for animal wellbeing who held the diminutive puppy in one hand, the dog had been adopted by one of the charity’s staff she made the group laugh with her comment about missing out on the dog.
Broadcaster Holden later said she made Camilla laugh when she told her about her husband’s response to their rescue dog Mini rolling onto its back for its stomach to be tickled whenever he sees the pet.
The TV presenter, a Battersea ambassador for 12 years, said of her partner: “My husband said why can’t you be more like that.”
She said about the Queen: “She’s just one of those people that’s genuinely nuts about dogs.”
During the visit Camilla toured the dog-friendly garden, which features a lawn, trees and shrubs, and saw one of the pets jump into a small pond and run about the borders.
Don said later: “It wasn’t about relocating a Chelsea garden, Chelsea was a stage of the journey to here and I quite like the fact it’s changed.
“We haven’t just plonked down a Chelsea garden, we’ve changed the site and made it work for the dogs.
“We wanted the dogs to run and leap and jump and roll and sniff, whereas at the Chelsea garden it was too precious.”
