Queen Elizabeth loved her corgis so much, she even called them "family." Here’s why she had such an affinity for the breed, and who cares for her dogs today.
Why Did Queen Elizabeth Own So Many Corgis—And Where Are They Now?
Updated on Apr. 29, 2025
Queen Elizabeth II was known for many things: Her record-breaking seven decades on the British throne. Her impeccable sense of duty. And her lifelong love of corgis. The monarch owned dozens of corgis during her reign and was often spotted out and about with her four-legged companions. In fact, the furry entourage became such a symbol of the queen that Princess Diana once joked that the monarch walked with a “moving carpet” of corgis around her.
And while her family didn’t always share her love for the sturdy Welsh cattle herders—Prince Philip is said to have referred to them as “her bloody dogs”—Queen Elizabeth’s corgis forever held a place in her heart. “She adored them,” says royal expert Penny Junor, author of All the Queen’s Corgis. “They were her constant companions.”
But what happened to the queen’s beloved dogs after her death? Did they become King Charles III’s dogs and stay at Buckingham Palace? We found out everything you need to know about Queen Elizabeth’s corgis, including how many she raised, why she had a soft spot for the breed and where they are now.
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How many corgis did Queen Elizabeth own?
It is estimated that Queen Elizabeth raised more than 30 Pembroke Welsh corgis and dorgis (corgi/dachshund mixes) over her 70 years as Britain’s monarch. At one point, she even owned 11 simultaneously!
While the queen also kept Labradors and spaniels in the palace kennels for hunting, the corgis were particularly special to her. “Corgis were bred by Welsh farmers who used to use them to drive cattle by nipping at the ankles of the cows, and they never really lost that instinct,” says Junor. “The queen loved their feistiness. She loved the fact that they raced off after squirrels and rabbits. She liked their independence and even the fact that they would sometimes nip at people. It quite amused the queen.”
How did Queen Elizabeth’s obsession with corgis start?
The unbreakable bond between Elizabeth and her corgis began when the queen was not yet a queen and, instead, was just a child. She and her sister, Margaret, used to play with friends who had a corgi puppy. “The family already had dogs at home, but the girls absolutely fell in love with this corgi, and after that, Elizabeth pestered her father to get a corgi,” says Junor. Their dad, the future King George VI, eventually caved, and when Elizabeth was 7, in 1933, he bought a corgi puppy that the family named Dookie. A few years later, the breeder gave them a second corgi puppy they named Jane. “And that was the beginning of the love affair with the corgi,” says Junor.
Elizabeth would later credit the dogs with helping to buoy her spirits when the family was separated during the darkest days of World War II. During the Blitz, when London came under attack from Nazi bombing raids in 1941 and 1942, the king and queen sent Elizabeth and Margaret to stay at Windsor Castle while they remained at Buckingham Palace. The girls got to see their parents only on weekends, so having corgis to cuddle helped get them through the fear and worry. “The family separation was hard on the girls, and the dogs were really important as companions,” says Junor. “They were a great source of comfort to them.”
How did Queen Elizabeth start her own line of corgis, exactly?
In 1944, Queen Elizabeth’s father gave her a corgi named Susan for her 18th birthday. “Susan was really the beginning of the queen’s personal relationship with corgis that went on for the rest of her life,” says Junor. The dog accompanied the queen everywhere. She even smuggled her into the royal carriage she rode in on her wedding day to Prince Philip in 1947. (As she and Philip headed off to their honeymoon in Scotland, Susan was secretly hidden in the rugs on the floor.)
Susan gave birth to a pair of puppies in 1949. Thus began the line of Windsor Pembroke corgis, which the queen herself engineered and which lasted for at least 14 generations of dogs. In the 1970s, one of Susan’s descendants mated with Princess Margaret’s dachshund, Pipkin, and helped create a new breed known as the dorgi. “It was an accident, but she and Margaret were so delighted with the outcome, they did it again and again,” says Junor.
What was the life of a royal corgi like?
Pretty amazing, if you ask us! “The dogs slept in the queen’s apartment,” says Junor. “They each had their own little bed, raised off the floor and lined with cushions to keep away from drafts.” They also accompanied the monarch on planes, trains and the royal yacht Britannia, and were shuttled between the many royal residences. “If she was going to spend the weekend at Windsor, she would put them into her car and very often drive them herself,” adds Junor.
The corgis also sometimes served as icebreakers when the famously shy and reserved monarch had to make small talk with strangers. “If the queen was hosting a rugby team or something, the corgis would rush into the room ahead of the queen, and everybody suddenly felt at ease,” says Junor. “It was a very good device for breaking the ice.”
And let’s talk about the royal doggy diet. “A butler would arrive with a silver tray and all their individual bowls already prepared on it,” says Junor. “Then [the queen] would sit them all in a semicircle around her and give them their lunch or supper in order of age. The eldest always ate first. And they were very well trained! They all followed the rules and didn’t move until she told them to.”
Of course, it wasn’t just kibble in those plates. “They ate the best food,” says Junor. “They had fresh-cooked meat. When they were in Scotland, and it would be venison or rabbit killed on the estate. And it would be mixed with fresh vegetables. The queen had her own secret recipe for a gravy she would have the chefs put on top.”
Did Queen Elizabeth still have corgis when she passed away?
In recent years, Buckingham Palace no longer echoed with the chirps and barks of the Queen Elizabeth corgis. The last surviving member of the royal corgi family, Willow, died of cancer in April 2018. Whisper, a corgi the queen inherited from a former staff member, passed away in October of the same year. After the last two of Queen Elizabeth’s corgis, Holly and Willow, were born, the queen stopped breeding them because she didn’t want to leave any young dogs behind when she died.
But that didn’t mean Queen Elizabeth’s corgi obsession—or ownership—came to an end. In her final years, she still had a few furry friends roaming around the palace grounds. She owned two other corgis, Muick (pronounced Mick) and Sandy, as well as a cocker spaniel named Lissy and a dorgi named Candy. Prince Andrew gave Muick to his mother during the pandemic to keep her company, while Sandy was a gift for her 95th birthday from Andrew, Eugenie and Beatrice. “[Prince Andrew] thought since she loved them so much, she shouldn’t deprive herself,” says Junor.
What happened to Queen Elizabeth’s corgis after her death?
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Don’t worry—the royal pups are well taken care of, but they haven’t remained in Buckingham Palace. Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who still live together, now look after the corgis, Muick and Sandy, at their sprawling country estate, Royal Lodge, in Windsor. Despite her divorce from Andrew, the Duchess of York maintained a close friendship with the queen, and they often walked their dogs together.
A few months after Elizabeth’s death, the Duchess of York called it a “big honor” to have inherited the dogs and revealed how they were adjusting to life without the queen. “I think they are exceptional, and they’re just very funny,” she told E! News. “I think, I’m sure, when they’re chasing the air, I think they’re looking at her. That’s what I like to think. The squirrels are not in sight, but they’re still barking at something, so I think it might be her.”
And on Sept. 8, 2023, the one-year anniversary of the queen’s passing, Ferguson shared an update about the corgis on her social media channels. Showing a picture of herself playing with the pups outside, she wrote, “As we mourn a year on, we also celebrate the wonderful times we shared with Her Late Majesty the Queen. She entrusted me with the care of her corgis Sandy and Muick and I am delighted to say they are thriving.”
What about Candy and Lissy? Candy reportedly passed away a few months before the queen’s death, and it remains unclear who is caring for Lissy, though according to some reports, Lissy’s trainer, Ian Openshaw, took her in.
Additional reporting by Cynthia Sanz Carstens.
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Sources:
- Penny Junor, royal expert and the author of All the Queen’s Corgis; interviewed, March 2025
- Royal.uk: “Royal Dogs”
- BBC: “Corgis: The royal family in danger of dying out”
- Vanity Fair: “Queen Elizabeth and Her Corgis: A Love Story”
- E! News: “How Queen Elizabeth’s Corgis Are Still Living Like Royalty”
