The Queen was reportedly left “devastated” after one of her two new Dorgi puppies died over the weekend after falling ill in February.
Five-month-old Fergus, a mix of dachshund and Welsh corgi breeds, was one of the Queen’s newest dogs given to her by Prince Andrew in an effort to boost her spirits while Prince Philip was in hospital.
The dog was named in honour of the Queen’s maternal uncle Fergus Bowes-Lyon who died in France during the First World War.
Prince Andrew also gifted the Queen a corgi named Muick after Loch Muick, a lake in Scotland.
A palace source told The Sun: “The Queen is absolutely devastated.
“The puppies were brought in to cheer her up during a very difficult period,” they said.
“Everyone concerned is upset as this comes so soon after she lost her husband,” the source concluded.
The death of Fergus came a little over a month after the Queen lost the Duke of Edinburgh, her husband of 70 years.
Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty Magazine, said: “The thinking was enough, and that she was getting too old for new dogs and who would look after them when she was gone.”
“But clearly that decision was reversed and, as it turned out, it probably is very fortuitous. I think it’s useful to have these puppies in her life now as a way of a distraction,” she said.
Fergus and Muick were the first dogs owned by the sovereign that are not direct descendants of Susan, the dog she received for her 18th birthday in 1944. The Queen has owned 30 corgis during her reign.
