Major pup-date! Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, revealed how Queen Elizabeth II’s corgis are doing following the late monarch’s death on September 8.
The Duke and Duchess were both 60 when they first gifted the two puppies to his mother. The dogs were adopted by the Duchess of York after her death. They now live together in the Royal Lodge, near Windsor Castle.
Interview with the author during a Wednesday, October 5 interview The Telegraph, Fergie gave an update on how the Pembrooke Welsh corgis are holding up in their new environment, calling “it a big honor” to be taking care of the queen’s pets, who she referred to as “national treasures.”
“They all balance out,” the duchess joked, referencing how Muick and Sandy have joined the pair’s five Norfolk terriers. “The carpet moves as I move but I’ve got used to it now.”
According to The TelegraphAndrew gave Muick and Fergus to the monarch for the first time in March 2021, during the COVID-19 quarantine. This was to cheer up his mother after Prince Phillip was admitted.
Fergus died the following May, and Philip died one month later. The duke then gifted the sovereign a third dog — Sandy — who the duchess had found as a puppy.
In September, public concern grew around what might happen to the corgis after Elizabeth’s death. Prince WilliamHe is now second behind father to the throne King Charles III, spoke to worried fans waiting in line to view his grandmother’s coffin at Westminster Palace in London to reassure them the dogs were being “spoiled rotten” in their new home.
The Queen’s corgis during The State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen on September 19, 2022. Jonathan Buckmaster/Pool/Shutterstock
“I saw them the other day,” the Prince of Wales, 40, said during the brief September interaction, which was captured and shared via Sky News. “They’re going to be looked after fine, they’re two very friendly corgis and they’ve got a good home.”
The late monarch owned 30 dogs During her reign as Queen of England. Elizabeth was 18 when she received Susan, her first corgi. While she was alive, Elizabeth’s dogs even had their own room in Buckingham Palace, where they slept on wicker beds and received fresh sheets daily.
“The dogs sleep in the home with the Royal Family, and they certainly are well-fed,” corgi trainer Roger Mugford told Town & CountryJuly 2015. “The context and content of their meals is very important to Her Majesty, who tailors what they are fed to their age, clinical needs, and so on.”
Mugford added at the time that “the queen is a great believer in homeopathy and herbal medicines, and each dog has a unique menu,” noting that each pup had an “exotic porcelain bowl” that are carried in by a butler. “Eight dogs are arranged in a semi-circle to sit and wait to be given their meal bowls. It’s all disciplined and well-organized by Her Majesty; few other owners can exert such control over their dogs to ‘wait’ for their food in turn,” he explained.
