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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Jilly Beattie & Charlotte Smith

The Queen's 64 Corgis and dorgis and the names she gave them all

The sight of the Queen's young Corgis waiting for her funeral cortege at Windsor Palace, was a dam bursting moment for many looking on, having swallowed back emotions all morning.

Sandy and Muick, her year-old Pembroke Welsh Corgis, waited in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle with two staff members, as their owner's coffin was driven to it's final resting place.

Their presence was a deeply touching moment requested by the late monarch who knew the heart of dogs and horses. Earlier, her Fell pony mare Emma, has stood alongside the Long walk, her saddle draped in one of the Queen's favourite headscarves, with handler Terry Pendry LVO, BEM, stud groom and manager to the Queen at Windsor Castle.

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Sandy and Muick have now joined the household at Royal Lodge with Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York and will live out their days there having been a gift to the Queen from her granddaughters, the princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Today we list the names of the Queen's Corgis including 'Mick', who was named after Loch Muick, an upland, freshwater loch five miles from Braemar and within the boundary of the Balmoral estate.

For years the royal household had been thought to be home to around 30 Corgis during Queen Elizabeth's life, but the family tree from her first dog Susana gift nearly 80 years ago, reveals more than 60 names.

The Queen's fell pony, Emma, stands with her handler Terry Pendry LVO, BEM, stud groom and manager to the Queen at Windsor Castle, as the monarch's funeral cortege passes. A often-worn headscarf is seen to be draped over Emma's saddle. (The Royal Family)

Most she kept, others were given to trusted friends and family members, but each was named by the monarch before they left her home.

And during her 70-year reign, she owned at least one corgi at any given time between the years 1933 to 2018, then again from 2021 until her death on September 8, 2022.

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Wherever the Queen went, her corgis and dorgis - a dachshund and corgi mix - were never too far behind and since she owned so many, she was quite inventive when it came to naming each one.

The first time the Queen ever looked after a corgi was when she was just seven years old. As a gift from her parents the Duke and Duchess of York, the young monarch was given a Pembroke Welsh corgi, registered under the name Rozavel Golden Eagle - otherwise known by his nickname Dookie.

The royal family forming a happy group of dog lovers; with their Tibetan Lion Dog, Labradors, and Corgis, 1937. (The Print Collector)

And on her 18th birthday, she was gifted ownership of Susan, a corgi from whom a whopping 14 generations of the Queen's beloved corgis were descended.

Following on from Susan, many of the Queen's other corgis were called all sorts of names, from the weird to the wonderful and everything else in between - including Sugar, Honey, Sherry, Whiskey, Bee and Buzz.

There was also a Foxy, Tiny, Mask, Cindy, Rufus, Brush, Pickles, Tinker, Jolly and Sweep.

Queen Elizabeth II during a visit in Northumberland, with a corgi bred by the Queen and then owned by Lady Beaumont. (PA Wire/PA Images)

Other names in Susan's the Corgi's family tree were Socks, Blackie, Geordie, Shadow, Chipper, Smoky, Piper, Fable, Myth, then Spark, Kelpie, Dash, Ranger, Diamond, Apollo, Fay, Mint and Phoenix.

The names didn't stop there, as there was also a Pundit, Rush, Dime, Dawn, Dipper, Disco, Flora, Brush, Minnie, Dagger, Dipper, Linnet, Plover, Wren, Larch, Cedar and Bramble.

And Windsor Loyal Subject and Windsor Quiz alongside more conventional dog names such as Heather, Harris, Emma, Jay, Martin, Rose, Laurel, Jasmine, Holly and Willow.

The Royal family tree (BBC)

Willow was the Queen's last Corgi descended from Susan and later followed Candy, and her two remaining Corgis, Muick and Sandy, have been taken in by the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York. The dogs were given to the Queen as a present in 2021 by Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

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