She vowed not to breed any more dogs, fearing she might trip over them in heradvancing years, or worse still – leave them behind when the time came.
Yet the Queen’s unexpected decision to take on two new puppies last month atthe age of 94 will help her to cope with the loss of Prince Philip, accordingto royal insiders.
The dog-loving monarch surprised palace staff when she requested that theybegin searching for a pair of pets to replace her beloved pooches.
The move followed the death of Her Majesty’s dorgi (a cross between a corgiand a dachshund) Vulcan, last November leaving her with one dorgi, calledCandy.
Having owned more than 30 dogs over the years, she resolved to expand thekennel and in March, she welcomed the two puppies to Windsor Castle. The dogsare the first the Queen has owned that are not direct descendants from a corgicalled Susan that she received for her 18th birthday in 1944.
The first, Fergus, a dorgi, is named after her uncle Fergus Bowes-Lyon, whowas killed in action during the First World War. The second dog, Muick,pronounced Mick, is a pure-bred corgi and named after Loch Muick on theBalmoral estate, a favourite picnic spot for the Royals during their summerholiday.
According to a royal insider: “Everyone knows she is a lifelong dog lover andthat dogs bring her so much joy.
“Like most people, I think lockdown helped her to realise how important it isto be surrounded by the things you love in life. These puppies are very much apart of that but now Prince Philip has gone they will take on even greatersignificance. As well as acting as a welcome distraction they will keep hercompany.”
Earlier this month it emerged that the Queen sent hard-written notes on behalfof her dogs to the dogs belonging to her former equerry.
Revealing her “wicked sense of humour”, TV presenter Alexander Armstrongdiscovered the canine correspondence between the monarch and the late SirBlair Stewart-Wilson, whose daughter Belinda was married to Ben Miller, hisformer comedy partner.
“He would write these letters from their Jack Russell to the corgis and theQueen would write these letters back,” Mr Armstrong told The Telegraph.
Source: Yahoo News
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