Over the course of Queen Elizabeth’s 96 years on Earth, she enjoyed the company of dozens of animals. Her death Thursday leaves questions as to where the pets in her court will end up as the royal family prepares for its future.
Among her favorite animals were the Pembroke Welsh corgis she kept around throughout most of her life.
At the time of her death, Queen Elizabeth reigned with four dogs at her side — two of them being corgis named Muick and Sandy, according to NPR. She also left behind a corgi-dachshund mix she called Candy and a cocker spaniel named Lissy. The latter, which she took in last February, would be the last dog Queen Elizabeth took under her wing.
The queen reportedly got her first dog, a corgi named Susan, in 1944. Vanity Fair reports that she stopped caring for new pups in 2015, as she entered her nonagenarian years, but sought canine companionship again in 2021 when Prince Philip — her husband of seven decades — died at the age of 99. Her introduction to corgis is said to have come when she was 7 and her father brought one home.
Royals author Penny Junor noted the queen’s dressmaker, Angela Kelly, and longtime employee Paul Whybrew are candidates to house the dogs, Newsweek reported. The pair reportedly has experience with the monarch’s pets. The dogs could be separated and taken into their homes or those of the royals that Queen Elizabeth leaves behind, NPR reports.
The American Kennel Club calls the Pembroke Welsh corgi “among the most agreeable of all small house dogs.” They are described as “alert, affectionate and smart,” and despite topping out around 30 lbs., pack a “big dog bark.”
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