The Queen's love for corgis is so well-known that the breed has become synonymous with the Royal Family. Wherever Queen Elizabeth II went, you could expect her dogs would not be far behind. Companions on her Royal tours, and regular additions to her official portraits, the Queen took pride in her reputation as an animal lover.
In her devotion, she went on to own more than 30 dogs in her lifetime - always having at least one at any time during the 85 years between 1933 and 2018. As such, she had to be inventive when naming her corgis and dorgis - a dachshund and corgi mix - selecting monikers that were weird, wonderful, and everything in between.
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The Queen's took charge of her first pooch when she was aged seven. Gifted to her by her parents, the Duke and Duchess of York, the Pembroke Welsh corgi was registered under the name Rozavel Golden Eagle, though kennel staff quickly nicknamed him Dookie.
But it was Susan, the corgi Her Majesty was given on her 18th birthday, from whom 14 generations of her beloved corgis were descended.
And Queen Elizabeth's dogs enjoyed inventive names, like Sherry, Whisky, Chipper, Pickles, Socks, and Sweep.
There was also a Geordie, Socks, Mask, Shadow, Myth, and Kelpie. Other names included Disco, Dipper, Diamond, Dash, and Dagger.
And who could forget Windsor Loyal Subject and Windsor Quiz? But there were also more conventional dog names such as Emma, Jay, Rose, Holly, and Jasmine.
When a BBC research chart of Susan the corgi's family tree was shared to Twitter recently, people were delighted by the range of names.
One social media user wrote: "Intrigued by a generation of Dagger, Dipper, Linnet, Martin, Plover, Wren, and then one dude named Jay."
But someone pointed out: "They’re birds, I think they’re all birds."
Another delighted commenter said: "I think having a sweet puppy with a metal name like Dagger is pretty epic."
And a different person joked: "I’ll bet little 'Disco’ was fun!"
Although Her Majesty stopped breeding dogs in 2015, she was gifted two puppies by Prince Andrew during 2021, while staying at Windsor during lockdown. Unfortunately, one of the dogs died a few weeks later.
Keen for the Queen to have another dog, Andrew and his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie then gifted her another puppy for her 95th birthday.
Following the Queen's death, the Duke of York and his ex-wife will take over the care of the dogs, it has been confirmed.
