All the queen’s horses and all the queen’s dogs — what’s going to happen to Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved animals now that she has died?
Queen Elizabeth adored animals, especially horses, cows and, perhaps most of all, her corgis.
The monarch, 96, died on Sept. 8, and senior members of the Royal Family rushed to Balmoral Castle in Scotland to be at her bedside.
And while her life was chock-full of impressive achievements and interests over the course of her 70-year reign, perhaps none was more enduring or long-spanning as her love for animals.
Over the course of her life, the queen owned more than 30 dogs — the majority of them being Pembroke Welsh Corgis.
She was gifted her first corgi, Susan, on her 18th birthday. Many of her subsequent dogs were descendants of Susan.
The dogs, which look very similar to little bread loaves, were often spotted at the queen’s feet both inside her palatial homes as well as running around on the various royal estates.
In 2015, Elizabeth decided she would stop bringing new dogs under her care out of fear of leaving any puppies behind, Monty Roberts, a royal horse whisperer told Vanity Fair.
However, she had a change of heart when her husband, Prince Philip, passed away in 2021, reports NPR, and accepted two new puppies given to her by her son, Prince Andrew.
And while virtually every single detail in the aftermath of her death has been carefully planned, it’s not known exactly what will happen to her remaining pups, of which there are at least four — two corgis named Muick and Sandy, a dachshund-corgi cross named Candy and a cocker spaniel named Lissy.
Joe Little, a royal biographer and managing editor of Majesty magazine, told CNN he believes the dogs will be cared for by royal staff before being adopted by Princess Anne and Prince Andrew.
“Princess Anne has had corgis of her own in the past,” he explained. “The two most recent additions came from the Duke of York and his daughters, so perhaps they could go to him. It’s unlikely that they’ll be split up.”
Claudia Joseph, a journalist based in London, told the New York Post that other family members might also be able to adopt the dogs.
“Andrew has cocker spaniels so he might take back the one he gave her. William and Kate also love dogs, so they could have them,” she said.
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward, told Newsweek that her bet is on Andrew taking the pups, but author Penny Junor has said it’s also possible that members of the queen’s staff could step up as the dogs’ new owners.
“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 in her 2018 book, All The Queen’s Corgis.
Junor added: “Both are fond of the dogs, have unfettered access to the queen and are said to be very close to her.”
Photographer Annie Leibovitz, who photographed the queen with her pets in 2016, shared a sentiment about the monarch and her beloved dogs after her passing Thursday.
“The Queen went out walking with her dogs every day… The Queen grew up with corgis, fearless little dogs bred for herding cattle. Her father brought a corgi home when she was seven, and she was not without one — for decades afterward.”
The queen appeared in a rare cameo as herself, alongside her corgis and then-James Bond Daniel Craig, in a video created for the 2012 London Olympic Games opening ceremony.
Twitter had a special crowned corgi emoji in place for this year’s Platinum Jubilee-related hashtags, while one of the U.K.’s major grocers sold specialty chocolate Swiss roll corgi cake to celebrate the occasion, known as Clarence the Corgi.
The Royal Family has not made an official statement on what will happen to Queen Elizabeth’s dogs, but there’s no doubt the dogs will be reassigned to loving homes.