Queen Elizabeth II's royal corgis: her dogs, one by one

Part 1

How the queen got her first corgi

Queen Elizabeth's family already had corgis before she owned one herself. In 1933, breeder Thelma Gray brought a litter of puppies to show the family, and they chose one and named him Dookie; she later gave them another corgi named Jane. Dookie died at the start of World War II, and Jane then had a puppy named Crackers before Jane herself died in 1944. On her 18th birthday, Elizabeth was given a corgi of her own, called Susan, registered as Hickathrift Pippa. Susan became the first corgi that belonged solely to Elizabeth, and she is the common ancestor of every corgi the queen later bred.

You might picture a young princess bringing her dog everywhere, and Susan really did travel with her. Susan rode hidden under rugs in the royal carriage when Elizabeth left London with Prince Philip after their wedding in 1947. Susan later became the foundation of a royal breeding program that Elizabeth personally oversaw at Windsor Castle, with puppies carrying the Windsor kennel name.

Susan died in 1959 and was buried in the pet cemetery at Sandringham, becoming the first corgi laid to rest there.

Part 2

How many corgis the queen owned over her reign

The queen stopped breeding new corgis after her mother, the Queen Mother, died in 2002. She later explained to her horse advisor Monty Roberts that she did not want to leave a young dog behind after her own death. She once told an interviewer that her corgis were family to her.

• She owned more than 30 corgis over her lifetime.
• Two of her last corgis, Holly and Willow, were part of the 14th generation of Susan's line.
• The dorgi crossbreed came from crossing a corgi with a dachshund.

Part 3

Where the corgis lived and how they were cared for

At Windsor Castle, Bill and Nancy Fenwick cared for the queen's corgis. They had their own room at the palace, with raised baskets kept off the floor to avoid drafts, and a personal chef prepared their meals. Their meals reportedly included dishes such as beef and rabbit, prepared by a dedicated chef. At Windsor Castle, gamekeeper Bill Fenwick and his wife Nancy became the dogs' caretakers, training them, feeding them, and helping arrange matings for the breeding program.

Photographs across her reign show her arriving by train with her dogs and visiting Balmoral Castle with them as well. In 1954, one of the corgis bit a member of the Queen's Guard. In 1999, a royal footman was demoted after he was caught pouring whiskey and gin into the corgis' food and water. The late Princess Diana once described the pack of corgis moving through a room as looking like a moving carpet. The corgis helped put people at ease, once even providing comfort to a war surgeon suffering a post-traumatic stress attack.

Part 4

The queen's last corgis

In her final years, the queen still had corgis by her side. In February 2021, she received two puppies, a mixed-breed dog named Fergus and a Pembroke corgi named Muick. Fergus died a few months later, and Prince Andrew's family gave her another corgi puppy, Sandy, so Muick and Sandy became her companions. Angela Kelly, the queen's dresser, later wrote about these final puppies in her book. When her corgi Willow died in 2018, the loss reportedly affected the queen deeply, since Willow was one of the last direct links to Susan. She also kept a dorgi named Candy, who died a few months before the queen herself passed away on September 8, 2022, at age 96.

After her death, Muick and Sandy went to live with Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York; she had selected the dogs and he had gifted them to the queen. You can see how much these dogs still meant to the family, since Ferguson has continued to care for them since.

Part 5

Corgis at royal events and in public life

They appeared with her at royal residences and during walks marking anniversaries of her reign, including the thirtieth anniversary of her accession in 1982. During her Platinum Jubilee year in 2022, she was photographed with her dorgi Candy while looking at memorabilia from her Golden and Platinum Jubilees at Windsor Castle. Sandy and Muick stood with attendants at Windsor Castle as her funeral procession passed in September 2022.

The corgis have also appeared in productions about the queen, including The King's Speech and The Crown, and the UK Kennel Club has said these appearances brought fresh interest in the breed. Their steady presence throughout her reign made them a recognisable part of how people picture her.