Royal-themed accessories you can buy for your pet include this smart Hunting Stewart tartan dog coat. Photo / Royal Collection Trust
Royal-themed accessories you can buy for your pet include this smart Hunting Stewart tartan dog coat. Photo / Royal Collection Trust
By Harry Yorke
For years they've enjoyed a pampered lifestyle within the lavish grounds of Buckingham Palace.
But now it appears Her Majesty's corgis are finally earning their keep.
Last year the Royal Collection Trust made £19,034,000 ($34m) in sales, thanks in part to a new line of pet accessories.
Published today, the trust's annual report show that merchandise sales jumped by more than 20 per cent, with fashionable lines including leather collars, dog bandanas and coats made in Hunting Stewart Tartan, proving popular with visitors.
The Queen has a long-standing affection for dogs. Here she is pictured with one of her corgis at Sandringham in 1970. Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Available to purchase online and in gift shops across the Royal Estate, other highlights include a fine bone china dog bowl embellished with 24 carat burnished gold, a rubber Crown chew toy, and a palatial-looking dog bed.
The items were launched on the back of the Queen's own longstanding affection for the animals; over the years she has owned more than 30 dogs, including her current corgis, Holly and Willow.
The windfall comes during a year in which the Trust also recorded a 300 per cent increase in ice cream sales at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, with millions of visitors choosing to make the most of the warm weather.
Meanwhile, record catering sales were enjoyed at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, while the release of the Queen's official 90th birthday chinaware also proved a success.
The report also noted that the fall in the value of Sterling following the Brexit vote last June had increased the spending power of overseas tourists, with the average spend per visitor growing by 13 per cent.
The trust maintains and displays the large collection of royal artefacts from artwork to furniture held in trust by the Queen for her heirs and the nation, with a share of the proceeds also going to charitable causes.
Visitor numbers were also up on the previous year, with more than 2.7 million tourists visiting Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Frogmore House, the Queen's Gallery London, the Royal Mews, Clarence House, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Queen's Gallery Edinburgh.
Total admissions income came to just over £39.5 million, up more than £5 million compared with the same period last year.
