On September 8, Queen Elizabeth II passed away at her beloved home in Scotland, Balmoral Castle.
She leaves behind her family, including the newly titled King Charles III, along with a nation in mourning.
Over the years, through 15 Prime Ministers and 13 US Presidents, she had her faithful corgis by her side.
For 85 years, between 1933 and 2018, the Queen owned at least one corgis at any one time, a dog breed that has now become synonymous with her and the Royal Family.
The last of her original dogs died in 2018, Whisper, but it wasn't the end of her love with the pooches.
How many corgis did the Queen have?
During her life, the Queen owned more than 30 corgis and dorgis, with her having at least one with her over the years at any one time.
Even though the last of the Queen’s original corgis died in 2018, two more lived on after Whisper’s death.
The first was Vulcan, a dorgi that was bred from one of the Queen’s corgis and her sister’s, Princess Anne, dachshunds, though has since passed away.
The other was Candy, who still survives.
It wasn’t the end for the Queen’s relationship with her beloved pets though, as she was gifted two more in 2021.
Before Prince Philip ’s death that year, he was hospitalised, and the Queen was gifted two corgi puppies during that trying time.
They were named Fergus and Muick, though the former sadly died just two months later.
In June of 2022, on what would have been Prince Philip’s 100th birthday, the Queen’s son Prince Andrew gave her another puppy.
The Queen leaves behind three Corgis.
Victoria Arbiter, a royal correspondent, told The Independent: “We can only speculate on plans for the corgis – nothing is left to chance with the royal family.
“The royal family is a family of dog lovers, though none are particularly fond of corgis.
“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.”
Why did the Queen stop breeding corgis?
Eventually, the Queen decided to stop breeding corgis, due in part to her long life.
In 2012, one of her then-last corgis died and it was later confirmed by her horse trainer, Monty Roberts, that the Queen didn’t want to outlive any of them.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Monty said: “She didn’t want to have any more young dogs.
“She didn’t want to leave any young dog behind. She wanted to put an end to it.
Monty added: “I have no right to try to force her into continuing to bring on young puppies if she doesn’t want to. That isn’t my right. But it still concerns me.
“Because I wanted her to believe in her existence until she’s no longer here, because she’s just too important to the world to contemplate checking out.
“For me, the Queen can’t die.”
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