The world has been reeling following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch. Her Majesty passed away on Thursday, September 8 and since then royal fans have been mourning, paying their respects and sharing wonderful memories of the Queen.
A number of people have also voiced their concern over what may become of the Queen's beloved pet corgis following her death - and it seems we now have an answer. The Duke of York and his ex-wife have confirmed they will look after the dogs. A spokeswoman for Prince Andrew said he and Sarah, the Duchess of York will take on Muick and Sandy – two dogs the late monarch received as gifts from her son.
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Throughout her 70-year reign, the Queen owned more than 30 corgis and was known for her love of the breed.
In early 2021, she was gifted two new puppies, one dorgi (a dachshund and corgi mix) and one corgi, by Prince Andrew while staying at Windsor during lockdown.
The puppies helped keep the monarch entertained while the Duke of Edinburgh was in hospital.
The Queen named the dorgi Fergus after her uncle who was killed in action during the First World War, and the corgi was called Muick, pronounced Mick, after Loch Muick on the Balmoral estate.
But the Queen was left devastated when five-month-old Fergus died just a few weeks later, in the aftermath of Philip’s death.
Andrew and his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie then gifted the Queen another corgi puppy to replace Fergus for her official 95th birthday. This little pup was named Sandy.
Angela Kelly, the Queen's dresser, claims the dogs were a constant source of joy for the monarch during lockdown.
The Queen’s love of corgis was widely celebrated during Platinum Jubilee events, with a gathering of 70 corgis at Balmoral and a 'corgi derby' at Musselburgh racecourse.
Most of the Queen’s pet corgis were descended from her first Pembroke Welsh corgi, Susan, who was gifted to her on her 18th birthday in 1944. However, she decided to stop breeding corgis in 2015.
The Queen looked after her own dogs as much as possible and during weekends spent at Windsor, the corgis went too and lived in her private apartments.
She fed them whenever her busy schedule permitted and also enjoyed walking the dogs.
This weekend, the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror celebrate the life of Her Majesty the Queen with a commemorative special filled with all the key moments from Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Be sure to pick up your copy of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror to get both pullouts.
