Queen's love story with corgis is older than her 70-yr reign; know how many she owns

More than 70 corgies lined up on the front lawn of Balmoral Castle in Scotland to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee on Saturday. While the 96-year-old has closely been associated with race horses, no animal has been closer to her than the short-legged breed of dogs. Over her lifetime, she has owned 30 members of her favourite dog breed. 

At present, the Queen owns four dogs- two corgis named Muick (given to her in 2021) and Sandy. She also owns Candy, one dorgi and a cocker spaniel named Lissy, according to National World. Vulcan, a dorgi which had accompanied the queen for years, had died in December 2020, leaving her heartbroken.

_{Image: Scotland Corgi Association}

It was on Lilibet's 18th birthday in 1944 when she got her first pet corgi- a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Susan. Surprisingly, after that, the population of the fox-like dog spiraled in the country. Corgi registrations peaked in 1960, seven years after she was crowned as the Queen of England. Notably, all the corgis that the monarch owns are the descendants of Susan. 

_{Image: American Kennel Club}

Why is the Queen so fond of Corgis?

Both Queen Elizabeth and her late sister Princess Margret had fallen in love with the long-tailed dog breed during their childhood whilst playing with the pets owned by the children of the Marquess of Bath. Legend has it that the Queen and her younger sister chose Dookie from a litter of three, remarking that his long tail would help them see whether he was pleased or not. 

"I had always dreaded losing her," the Queen wrote in her grief after Susan died, "but I am ever so thankful that her suffering was so mercifully short."

_{Image: gyagi_jr/Twitter}

Close associations 

Corgis have closely been associated with the queen who had kept Pembroke Welsh Corgis since she was a teen. She even appeared with the dog in a spoof James Bong clip filmed for the opening of the 2012 London Olympics. The Queen stopped raising corgis in her 90s but has kept two 'dorgis' -a crossbreed of Dachshund and Corgi - to keep her company in her final years. 

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PJ the Corgi

Testifying her majesty's love for Corgis, the Royal family recently released a new emoji called 'PJ the corgi'. The Royal family has unveiled the emoji to help the people celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's jubilee on their official Twitter handle. The cartoon image of the cheerful dog will appear whenever the social media user tweets the hashtags, Platinum Jubilee, HM70, PlatinumPartyatthePalace, PlatinumJubileePageant pr TheBigJubileeLunch.

(Image: duchessdearly/Royal FamilyTwitter)