THE Queen’s three surviving corgis – Candy, Muick and Sandy – have been left to Prince Andrew, we can reveal.
Over her lifetime the late monarch owned more than 30, with each one descended from her first, Susan, an 18th birthday present from her father, George VI.
The Queen stroking her corgi dog Candy in 2022
Prince Andrew will be left his late mother’s pups following her death
Queen Elizabeth II with two dogs at Balmoral Castle in Scotland in September 1952
They became synonymous with her glorious 70-year reign and frequently featured in portraits, official photographs, coins and on bone china.
The Queen was even credited with introducing the dorgi after a brief – and entirely unexpected – encounter between her corgi Tiny and Princess Margaret‘s dachshund Pipkin.
Today, a source revealed the shamed Duke of York would now take in the beloved trio at his 30-bedroom Royal Lodge home in Windsor.
The insider added: “It’s fascinating – Charles is now King, Camilla is Queen Consort, William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales.
“As for Andrew, there is no new title and apparently no way back into the fold. Instead he just gets the dogs.
“At least he’s got plenty of time on his hands after stepping back from Royal duties amid the controversy surrounding his friendship with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
“He’s been spending most of it horse riding but will now be able to get out for walks with the dogs too.”
Candy, a 13-year-old dorgi, is the eldest of the Queen’s surviving dogs and was ever present at her feet in the last years of her unprecedented reign.
In February, as Her Majesty modestly marked the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne, Candy trotted into the Oak Room at Windsor Castle to join her.
The Queen smiled, bent down and gave her a stroke – asking: “And where did you come from?”
She playfully added: “I know what you want.”
The Queen had previously expressed a wish not to add any more corgis – or dorgis – for fear of leaving any young dog behind in the event of her death.
But when the Duke of Edinburgh was hospitalised shortly before his death last March, Andrew presented her with two new puppies.
She named them Muick, after one of her favourite spots at Balmoral, and Fergus after an uncle she never knew.
Her mother’s brother, Fergus Bowes-Lyon, was killed in World War I in 1915.
Fergus the pup tragically died just two months later of a heart defect.
But in June, on what would have been the Duke’s 100th birthday, Andrew and his daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, presented her with Sandy.
It comes as…
- The Queen has begun her final journey after her coffin was taken from her beloved Balmoral
- A sombre Princess Anne followed her late mother’s coffin from Balmoral this morning
- Mourners in Scotland showed an incredible mark of respect for the Queen
- The website of the firm on the side of the Queen’s coffin crashed just seconds after it appeared on TV
- Princes William and Harry and wives Kate and Meghan dramatically reunited yesterday in tribute to the Queen
- Princess Kate revealed son Louis’ poignant reaction after she told him the Queen had died
The Queen, who passed away “peacefully” on Thursday, also leaves behind prize-winning four-year-old cocker spaniel, Wolferton Drama, known as Lissy.
She was top dog at the Kennel Club Cocker Spaniel Championship and saw off 38 competitors to become the Queen’s first gundog champion in any breed.
The Queen’s deep affection for corgis began in 1933 when, just seven years old, her dad, then Duke of York, bought a corgi called Dookie for her and her sister, Margaret.
A second corgi, Jane, was added, and after she gave birth to a litter of puppies, two of those, Crackers and Carol, were kept.
Then, in 1944, the Queen was gifted Susan.
She even went on honeymoon with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh – concealed beneath travel rugs and next to a hot water bottle as the happy couple drove through London in an open carriage to catch the train to Hampshire.
Prince Philip was less enamoured – often barking: “Bloody dogs. Why do you have so many?”
Susan would acquire a fearsome reputation – after nipping the royal clockwinder, Leonard Hubbard, various servants, a detective, a police officer, and a Grenadier guardsman called Alfred Edge.
But each one of her dogs that followed – including Sugar, Buzz, Brush, Geordie, Smokie, Dash, Dime, Disco and Dipper – lived a life of luxury, residing in their own room at Buckingham Palace which was dubbed the Corgi Room.
They slept in elevated wicker baskets – with sheets refreshed daily – and were tended to by the Queen herself.
Their menu was extensive and included fresh rabbit and beef, served by a gourmet chef, and at Christmas they got stockings full of toys and biscuits.
In 2012, elderly corgi Monty famously starred alongside the Queen in the James Bond sketch during the London Olympics opening ceremony but later died.
The obituaries that followed praised his sublime on-screen tummy roll.
Kay Hogg, secretary of the Welsh Corgi League Scottish sector, said: “Everybody associated corgis with the Queen.
“She did so much for the breed and had them by her side all her life.”
Daniel Craig as James Bond escorts the Queen, followed by a corgi, in a skit from the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony
The Queen with sons Andrew and Edward and two royal corgis in 1970
Members of the royal family and several dogs in 1979
