Pets have always been a big part of most of the Royal Family’s lives – the late Queen Elizabeth owned more than 30 dogs during her life and described them as her “family”.
With an exclusive menu prepared by chefs and served by footmen on a silver tray, Queen Elizabeth’s pampered pooches dined on freshly cooked meat, vegetables, rice and a special gravy, every day, said to be made from Her Majesty’s own recipe.
Diana, Princess of Wales, once referred to the monarch’s dogs as a “moving carpet” that accompanied her to meetings with world leaders and prime ministers.
Mealtimes made up a major part of the animals’ day and former royal chef Darren McGrady recalls, “The Queen’s footman would come down to the kitchen at around two or three in the afternoon and take the food upstairs to feed the royal corgis. They each had their own bowl.”
The Queen would then line the dogs up and ladle their food into their dishes one by one, and also drop scraps of scones during afternoon tea. As well as enjoying five-star dining, the dogs had their own bedroom where they slept in raised wicker beds that were complete with fresh sheets every day.
Queen Elizabeth was given her first corgi, Susan, who was an eighteenth birthday present and from whom all future royal corgis have been descended, and even accompanied her and Prince Philip on their honeymoon.
The Queen had stopped breeding the dogs a few years before she died because she didn’t want them to outlive her, said Michelle Thole, co-host of the Keeping Up With The Windsors podcast. “That’s how much she loved them.”
But the corgis occasionally behaved badly and nipped Palace guests. “They’re cattle dogs, so they bite,” the Queen once explained. “They chase people.”
Queen Elizabeth also bred dorgis, a cross between a corgi and dachshund. She owned five corgis in 2007 named Monty, Emma, Linnet, Willow and Holly – five cocker spaniels named Bisto, Oxo, Flash, Spick and Span and four dorgis called Cider, Berry, Vulcan and Candy.
Monty, Holly and Willow starred with her and actor Daniel Craig in the James Bond sketch for the London Olympics opening ceremony in 2012.
The Duke of York gifted his mother a corgi called Muick and dorgi Fergus in 2021 and Prince Andrew gave her another corgi named Sandy a few months later.
After the Queen’s demise, Sarah, Duchess of York, adopted Muick and Sandy, taking her total number of dogs to seven, as she and Prince Andrew already owned five Norfolk terriers.
The late Queen also received gifts of exotic animals during her reign, including a crocodile, pygmy hippopotamuses, a sloth and black jaguars, which were kept at London and Whipsnade zoos.
King Charles and Queen Camilla have Bluebell and Beth, two Jack Russell terriers adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. Images of Bluebell and Beth were even embroidered on her coronation dress.
Queen Camilla even wrote an introduction to the 2022 book Top Dogs: A British Love Affair by Georgina Montagu, saying “I cannot imagine my life, my home or my sofas without them.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are also keen for Archie and Lilibet, their children to grow up with pets. When Meghan moved to the United Kingdom, she brought her beagle, Guy, with her.
Prince Harry said last year. “We all need a dog that keeps us calm,”I’ve got 3, so we basically have 5 children.
Several members of the royal family, including the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are also known dog lovers.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert first documented their large collection of domestic dogs, Dash, the spaniel was Queen Victoria’s childhood companion and Eos, the greyhound accompanied Prince Albert from Germany.
Queen Victoria favoured several different breeds throughout her long reign, which included dachshunds, collies and pugs. King Edward VII was particularly fond of terriers, while his son King George V continued the tradition of keeping terriers, as well as taking an interest in working dogs such as Labradors. When the Duke of York, later King George VI, acquired two for his daughters Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, the first corgis joined the royal family in 1933.
Queen Victoria banned the practice of tail docking and ear cropping, in the royal kennels.
Queen Victoria became the first royal patron of Battersea Dogs Home in 1885. When he rehoused a terrier called Skippy, her son Prince Leopold became the first member of the royal family to adopt from the home.
King Edward VII even commissioned Fabergé to make exquisite models of a number of his dogs including Caesar, who is shown wearing an enamelled collar inscribed ‘I belong to the King’.
