Queen Elizabeth II left behind a vast collection of priceless items, but her beloved horses and dogs were probably her most treasured. Following her death Thursday at age 96, it is unclear who will take care of her three beloved corgis. Despite her love of dogs, it was rumored that Queen Elizabeth II would never get another one after her pet Whisper died in 2018. She reportedly told horse trainer Monty Roberts, “she didn’t want to leave any young dog behind.”
The queen has reportedly left her possessions, including animals and horses, to designated beneficiaries in her will. The recipients’ identities may remain secret for many years. When he died last year, a British judge sealed Prince Philip’s will for 90 years. Public disclosure may be allowed for some items, however. It was revealed after Phillip’s death that he left his carriage to his granddaughter Louise Windsor, the daughter of Edward.
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However, in 2021, as the pandemic took hold and her husband, Prince Philip, suffered from terminal illness, she purchased two puppies: Muick, a corgi, and Fergus, a dorgi. The queen had had several Dorgis, including a surviving older one named Candy, born when one of her Corgis mated with her sister Princess Margaret’s dachshund. Queen Elizabeth even gave the two canines their own living quarters at Buckingham Palace, “The Corgi room,” where they were cared for by two footmen called “Doggie 1” and “Doggie 2.”
As a child, she first became interested in corgis after a family friend showed her one. She was given her first Corgi at 18, Susan, and over the next six decades owned and gifted more than 30 of the dog’s descendants. Concerning who will acquire the pets, no plans have been released. However, royal biographer Ingrid Seward told Newsweek, “I imagine the dogs would be looked after by the family, probably Andrew [as] he’s the one that gave them to her, they’re quite young, the corgi and the dorgi.”
Author Penny Junor suggested in her 2018 book, All The Queen’s Corgis, that they might be cared for by queen’s staff integral in their care. “Care of the dogs has fallen sometimes to footmen but mostly to the Queen’s trusted dressmaker, assistant, and right-hand woman, Angela Kelly; and to her equally trusted page of many years standing, Paul Whybrew, who was seen walking with the Queen and the dogs in the James Bond spoof,” she wrote, via Newsweek. Junor added, “Both are fond of the dogs, have unfettered access to the Queen, and are said to be very close to her.”
She also leaves behind over 100 horses, including two she received during her platinum jubilee, one from French President Emmanuel Macron, and one from Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. During her lifetime, Queen Elizabeth earned a total of $9 million in prize money from thoroughbred breeding and racing stock inherited from her late father, King George VI. Each of her royal homes had a stable, and she kept close track of all her horses, reading the Racing Post as part of her daily routine. Royal author Claudia Joseph told The New York Post, “It is likely that the queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, and [Anne’s] daughter, Zara, who were both Olympic equestrians and well-known horse lovers, are likely to be involved in what happens next to the queen’s animals.”
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A statue of the late Queen Elizabeth II, the first to be commissioned since her death, has been unveiled in Rutland's county town of Oakham as a lasting tribute to England's longest reigning monarch. Picture date: Monday April 22, 2024. (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
