POWER BEHOUND THE THRONE
The pampered life of the Queen’s corgis who are given treatment normally reserved for heads of state
The dogs pampered lifestyle included eating liver, chicken and fresh rabbit and having fresh beds every day
ONLY certain members of the royal household were allowed to bark orders at the Queen – her beloved corgis.
Bounding, snapping, leaping and constantly vying for attention, at one time there were 13 of them to take for walkies, leading Princess Diana to dub them “the moving carpet”.
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Living a pampered lifestyle where they ate fresh rabbit from silver bowls and were rarely told off, the disobedient hounds bit courtiers, policemen, guardsmen and even the Queen herself.
But it is this sparky independence that the monarch loved so much — and why she is so heartbroken that the last of them, Willow, has died.
Ahead of her 92nd birthday on Saturday, she is mourning the 14-year-old Pembroke breed, who she agreed to have put down this week to save the prized pet from any more suffering.
Willow, who was descended from the Queen’s first corgi, Susan, is believed to have had cancer.
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Royal expert Ingrid Seward told The Sun: “It was like her best friend. Willow was always with her, under her feet, at her desk. She bred them all herself.
“She wouldn’t have wanted the dog to suffer. She will be incredibly upset.”
Like her other canine companions, Willow has been buried within palatial grounds.
The Queen rarely speaks publicly about the “private” matter of her dogs, but once said that her “corgis are family”.
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She was introduced to the joys of the Welsh breed at the age of seven by her father, King George VI, who had one called Dookie.
The King had opted for the Pembroke corgi, which is more boisterous than the Cardigan, and has a tendency to bark at everything.
Early photos of the future queen show her beaming with a corgi at a window and playing the piano while one rests peacefully by her feet.
As an 18th birthday present she was given her own puppy, which she called Susan.
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Ingrid said: “They were a real rarity when Elizabeth got one.”
Since then more than 30 of Susan’s line have lapped up the kind of treatment normally reserved for a head of state.
They had their own room at Buckingham Palace, where they slept in wicker beds with the sheets changed daily.
Dinner was at 5pm prompt but there was no canned food in sight. Instead, the diet of liver, chicken, rice and freshly caught rabbit, often from the royal estates, was prepared by chefs.
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They scoffed out of sterling silver bowls or fine porcelain, illnesses were often dealt with by homeopathic treatments — and blotting paper was kept in each room to deal with any dog not completely house trained.
The Queen was so devoted to Susan she even went on honeymoon with her and Prince Philip in 1947, first to Broadlands, Hants, then on to Birkhall, Aberdeen. The dog was covered by a blanket in an open carriage as crowds waved.
Since then the corgis were driven around by chauffeurs and usually carried down aircraft steps by flunkies.
But to help teach the small-legged hounds to manage the stairs themselves, head Sandringham gamekeeper Bill Fenwick and his wife Nancy were given a two-storey house near Windsor Castle so Nancy could train and look after them when the Queen was abroad.
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So concerned was the Queen for her dogs’ welfare she carried a magnet during dress fittings in order to pick up any pins which might stick into their paws. But all this pampering had unfortunate consequences for anyone who got on the wrong side of the corgis.
Originally bred to herd cattle, they have a tendency to nip, as many royal staff will testify.
Susan’s victims included a royal clock winder, a Grenadier Guard and a palace sentry, while one of the Queen Mum’s corgis tore a policeman’s trousers.
The monarch’s former footman-turned-reality TV regular, Paul Burrell, was said to have been knocked out in a fall after being tangled in nine leashes, growling later: “They’re yappy, snappy, and we bloody well hate them.”
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In 1991 the Queen needed three stitches when she was bitten on her left hand while trying to break up a fight between her corgis and those of the Queen Mother, whose chauffeur also got chomped.
An animal psychologist had to be called in to sort out fights between the rivals — two years earlier, the Queen Mum’s corgi Ranger was part of a pack which killed the monarch’s much-loved dog Chipper.
The dogs displayed a similar disregard for priceless rugs and antique furniture, chewing away merrily with staff too scared to reprimand them.
It was this carefree energy, though, that has brought the often restrained Queen so much pleasure.
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The late Lady Margaret Rhodes, who was her first cousin, said in 2015: “They’re often rather unruly, the dogs. They chase rabbits like mad.
“There are a lot of rabbits around Balmoral, certainly, and the Queen gets excited with the dogs chasing the rabbits, egging them on. Telling them to ‘keep going, keep on going!’”
It is this excitable nature which has made the breed such stars.
Around one billion people across the world saw them run ahead of the monarch and Daniel Craig’s James Bond in a film at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.
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When conversations ran dry with dignitaries during official lunches in the palace, staff sent in the corgis as an ice-breaker so the Queen would have something to talk about.
If the dogs liked you, so did she. They wasted no time snuggling up to Prince Harry’s bride-to-be Meghan Markle, instantly endearing her to his grandmother. Harry later joked in their engagement interview: “I’ve spent the last 33 years being barked at. This one walks in, absolutely nothing. Just wagging tails. I was just like ‘argh!’”
Understandably, as pets that have been ever-present since childhood, it will be very tough for Her Majesty not to have the comforting creatures around.
She decided to stop breeding after Willow and seven siblings — Holly, Bramble, Laurel, Jasmine, Cedar, Rose and Larch — were born on July 9, 2003.
Matt Smith and Claire Foy among stars and corgis on the red carpet for 'The Crown' season 2 world premiere in London
Two reasons are suspected for this: A fear she would trip over them, and knowing any new arrivals might outlive her. Ingrid added: “She did not really want puppies under her feet and she also felt there was no point starting another litter.”
That is not to say Her Majesty will stop keeping the company of her canines.
She adopted a corgi called Whisper and has two dorgis, a cross between a corgi and dachshund, named Vulcan and Candy.
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Entertaining as they might be, Susan’s most noble blood does not run in their veins.
When Susan died in 1959, the monarch drew a sketch for the dog’s gravestone at Sandringham.
It was inscribed with the words: “The faithful companion of the Queen.”
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