Where do royal pets go when they die? Photo / Tim Graham Library, Getty Images
Where do royal pets go when they die? Photo / Tim Graham Library, Getty Images
The sad news of Queen Elizabeth II's passing gave rise to many questions. The monumental shift has repercussions for a third of the world's money, parliamentary processes and even laws.
But by far the most pressing question on animal lovers' minds was:
What happens to the corgis?
The Queen was inseparable from her dogs, just as the particular breed was inextricably linked with the animal-loving monarch. The Corgis have inspired children's books, pictures and even a feature film "The Queen's Corgi".
The reign of the longest ruling monarch - which encompassed 13 US Presidents and 15 New Zealand Prime Ministers - also saw the lifespan of 30 royal dogs.
But where did this royal obsession with short, fluffy lap dogs come from?
Like so many other things in the House of Windsor, it appears to be hereditary.
The Queen Mother is depicted in the George VI Monument with her two corgis. Photo / Wikimedia Commons
On Friday the image of four corgis being carried off a plane by Royal footmen dressed in black was doing the rounds on social media. Mistaken for the orphaned pups of the late Queen, the picture of the "sombre" looking animals was shared widely on social media.
The late Queen had reportedly said she didn't want to "leave any young dog behind" and stopped breeding them in 2018. Some panicked that this was some veiled threat that - like the pharaohs of old - she might be taking the dogs to her grave.
It was actually an old photo taken in 1993 and shows the Queen Mother's dogs being transported from Balmoral to Windsor. The royal was a breeder of Pembroke Welsh Corgis throughout her life.
This started in the 1930s with puppies bought for the royal household. The young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret were so taken by the dogs - Dookie and Lady Jane - that the royal household published a photo album in Christmas 1936 called Our Princesses and Their Dogs.
It's an obsession passed on with Queen's first dog, Susan - an eighteenth birthday present for the young princess. Reportedly Susan was the forebear of the Queen's long line of corgis.
But as for holding funerals for dogs, this was not too far from the truth.
A gentleman amongst dogs: there is a wall of honour dedicated to the Queen's favoured pets at Sandringham. Photo / Christine Matthews, Wikimedia Commons
In the Royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, visitors discover a royal corgi graveyard. Within the grounds of the 8000-hectare estate you will find a row of squat headstones, dedicated to the Queen's pets.
It is the final resting place of Susan and 29 of her offspring. This includes five 'dorgis' (Dachshund-Corgi crossbreeds), which were the result of an unplanned liaison between the Queen's corgis and Princess Margaret's pet sausage dog, Pipkin.
"For almost 15 years the faithful companion of the Queen," reads the epitaph to the first dog, who died in 1959, six years into the reign of Elizabeth II.
It's not surprising she took comfort in the company of corgis, as a link to her childhood and time as princess.
In an interview for Country Life, Bill Meldrum, a former royal dog trainer for the Queen, it was suggested that she found a connection with animals that she could not with her subjects.
"Some royal watchers suggest that Her Majesty's fondness for her dogs [was] "because she didn't go to school as a child and so had few human playmates," it was posited.
However, the royal obsession with animals goes back much further than the late Queen.
The Royal Sandringham Estate has been the final resting place of royal dogs since 1887. Photo / John Fielding, Wikimedia Commons
The plot on the Sandringham estate has been a pet graveyard since 1887, with the burial of Queen Victoria's collie.
The Kennels at Sandringham were built to house almost 100 gun dogs by the Queen's uncle Edward VII in 1879.
Queen Elizabeth kept a more modest pack of hounds of around 20 animals, according to the royal kennel.
The pet cemetery includes a wall of honour, with plaques laid in the stone boundary wall commemorating the lives of royal pets.
Susan is joined by descendents Sugar (1949-65), Heather (1961-77) as well as Sandringham Slipper, a famous black labrador.
In their headstone you will find remarks on the life and character of the royal canine companions.
"Tireless worker and mischievous character" it is remarked of Sandringham Fern, a cocker spaniel which was retired in 1991. Or, of black labrador Sandringham Brae, "a gentleman amongst dogs".
The graves of Susan, Sugar And Heather, some of The Queen's much-loved Corgis, at Sandringham. Photo / Tim Graham Library, Getty Images
The Black Labradors are part of a line of dogs which first started by the Queen's Grandfather George V.
According to Meldrum it was the Queen who names all royal dogs. Among the more recent additions to the kennel was a "Sandringham Gryffindor", suggesting that the late Queen was a fan of Harry Potter.
As part of the royal household the Sandringham Estate is normally open to the public, with tickets for the house and garden.
However, like other estates the house is observing a "period of official Royal Mourning" and will be closed to guests for the time being.
The Queen is survived by two corgis, Muick and Sandy, who have been taken into care of the family.
According to a spokesperson for the royal palace the dogs will go into the care of Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and his former wife Sarah, Duchess of York.
