Queen Elizabeth II’s Coffin Begins Its Final Journey
At least two of Queen Elizabeth II‘s beloved dogs will live with family.
At the time of the monarch’s death at age 96 on Sept. 8, she owned four—two Pembroke Welsh corgis named Muick and Sandy, one older dorgi named Candy and a cocker spaniel named Lissy. The corgis will now live with the person who gifted them to the monarch: Her son Prince Andrew, a source close to the Duke of York told NBC News.
“The queen’s corgis will go to live with Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York at their home in Windsor, Royal Lodge,” the insider said. “It was Sarah, Duchess of York who found the puppies which were gifted to the Queen by Prince Andrew.”
Sarah lives with Andrew despite being divorced from him since 1996 and shares with him daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
The duchess “bonded with the queen over dog walking and riding horses and even after her divorce, she would continue her great friendship with the queen, by walking the dogs in Frogmore [House] and chatting,” the source said.
No details have been revealed as to where the queen’s two other dogs will live following her death. Royal biographer Ingrid Seward had recently told Newsweek that they would most likely go to the monarch’s family.
Annie Leibovitz/UPPA via ZUMA Press
The Duke of York had given Muick and a dorgi puppy, Fergus, to his mother in early 2021 in an attempt to cheer her up when her husband Prince Philip was hospitalized, The Telegraph reported.
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Philip passed away at age 99 the following April. A month later, Fergus died at age 5 months. In June 2021, Andrew and his family gave the queen another corgi puppy, Sandy.
Earlier this year, the monarch was gifted Lissy, named after her. The dog won the 2022 Kennel Club Cocker Spaniel Championship.
The queen often took her dogs on walks in the gardens surrounding Windsor Castle and Sarah “bonded” with the late monarch during the outings, The Telegraph reported.
The queen has owned more than 30 corgis and dorgis during her reign, most of which descended from her first corgi, Susan, who was gifted to her on her 18th birthday in 1944, according to Buckingham Palace. Over the years, some of the corgis were bred with dachshunds to create dorgis. One of the dachshunds was Pipkin, who belonged to the queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, the palace said.
The queen’s dogs accompanied her during her trips to her residences and a few also crashed her official engagements and appeared with her in official photographs. A 2016 pic taken by famous photographer Annie Leibovitz for the queen’s 90th birthday shows the monarch with corgis Willow and Holly and dorgis Vulcan and Candy.
Holly passed away in 2016, while Vulcan died in 2020. In 2018, the queen mourned the passing of corgis Whisper and Willow, who was her last remaining home-bred corgi and who famously starred with her and Daniel Craig in a James Bond-themed comedy sketch that aired during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
See photos of the queen with her many dogs throughout her life:
Peter Nicholls – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Awaiting Their Queen
Sandy and Muick, the Queen’s surviving corgis, await the arrival of her coffin at Windsor Castle, her final resting place, following a state funeral Sept. 8, 2022.
Annie Leibovitz/UPPA via ZUMA Press
Last Portrait
The Queen appears with her dogs Willow, Vulcan, Candy and Holly on the grounds of Windsor Castle in this 90th birthday portrait released in 2016.
STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty
Sweet Candy
The Queen pets her dorgi Candy while taking a break from observing a display of memorabilia from her Golden and Platinum Jubilees, in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle in February 2022.
The dog, one of four of her last pets, died months before the Queen passed away at age 96 on Sept. 8, 2022, according to multiple reports. She was survived by her corgis Muick and Sandy, who went to live with her son Prince Andrew and his ex-wife and roommate Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, as well as a cocker spaniel named Lissy.
Anwar Hussein/Getty Images
Dog Mum
Queen Elizabeth II is joined by her dog family at her Sandringham estate.
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Bring Your Pup to Work
Her Majesty’s pups ensemble by her feet as she meets with the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team at Buckingham Palace in 2002.
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Royal Entourage
Queen Elizabeth II and her two dogs step out during a royal engagement in 1991.
Reginald Davis/Shutterstock
Dog Day Afternoon
Queen Elizabeth II takes a walk with her corgi on the 30th anniversary of her accession to the throne in 1982.
Keystione/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
At Home
The Queen smiles as she poses with a corgi in 1970.
STF/AFP/Getty Images
Along for the Ride
Queen Elizabeth II arrives at King’s Cross station with her dogs on October 15, 1969.
Historia/Shutterstock
Photo Shoot
Royal corgis join the Queen and Prince Andrew on the cover of Tatler in 1962.
Joan Williams/Shutterstock
Keeping Close
A pup relaxes by Queen Elizabeth II.
Bettmann/Getty Images
Travel Buddy
Her Majesty visits Balmoral Castle with one of her dogs in 1952.
AP/Shutterstock
Furry Friends
The Queen returns to London with two pups following a weekend in the country.
Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Childhood Companion
Queen Elizabeth II, then known as Princess Elizabeth, with two corgi dogs in 1936.
Historia/Shutterstock
Snuggles
The future queen cuddles with a pup at her childhood home in 1936.
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