The royal corgis made a poignant appearance outside Windsor during the Queen's funeral - but they broke an unwritten protocol when appearing in public. Throughout the Queen's 70-year reign, the royal dogs have almost always been walked on red leads - but, on the day of her funeral, one was seen in red while the other was in blue.
It is thought Her Majesty's corgis and dorgis would typically wear red to match the uniforms worn by many of the Queen's Guards - or to tie in with the national colours - red, white and blue. However, not all of the Royal Guards wear red as the Oxford forces, also known as The Royal Regiment of Horse, continue to wear blue uniforms, earning them the nickname 'the Blues'.
But by having one corgi in red and another in blue at her funeral, the late Queen could have been giving one final nod to Scotland, as their flag is a white satire on a blue field.
The colour blue could have also been used to show how much she loved her pets, suggesting they're also of 'blue blood', a term that has been used since 1811 to describe royal families - or, again, simply to tie in with the national colours.
Many mourners were left in tears after spotting the royal dogs, Sandy and Muick, patiently waiting outside Windsor for the Queen's coffin to be driven past them.
Some said it was the "saddest" part of the entire day for them, as they struggled to hold back their tears when thinking about the corgis missing their royal owner.
One user said on Twitter : "Ok that did it for me, they just showed the Queen's two corgis. And I'm balling my eyes out for them."
Another user added: "The Queen's horse and corgis waiting for her really got to me. I always feel awful for animals when their humans die. Poor things don't know why their people aren't there anymore. It just breaks my heart."
A third user said: "Just caught totally unawares by a bolt of emotion seeing a close up of two of the corgis. Always gets me when animals lose their favourite human and they don't understand where they've gone."
It has been confirmed Prince Andrew and Princess Beatrice will take in the Queen's two Welsh corgis.
Andrew, Beatrice and her sister Eugenie are said to have gifted Muick to the Queen to keep her company when Prince Philip was in hospital, while the Prince of York gave her Sandy in June on what would have been Prince Philip's 100th birthday.
It is thought the royal corgis will be moved out of Buckingham Palace to make room for King Charles' two Jack Russells, Bluebell and Beth, and will move in with Prince Andrew at his £30 million regal residence, Royal Lodge in Windsor.
You can now buy Friday's historic Daily Mirror commemorating the death of the Queen here: mirror.co.uk/commemorative
