Queen Elizabeth II is widely known to have an affection for dogs, especially Pembroke Welsh Corgis—her Majesty has owned up to eight Corgis at one time .
The effect the dogs have on the Queen is remarkable. “When she’s talking about her dogs or her horses, you see a completely different side to her: she relaxes,” animal psychologist Roger Mugford told Town & Country in an upcoming issue that will honor the Queen’s 90th birthday this April. “Dogs are great levelers, and they’re not influenced by social status, which must be a great relief to her.”
Mugford also reveals in the article that the Queen’s dogs are fed from silver and porcelain bowls in order of seniority. “As I watched, the Queen got the corgis to sit in a semi-circle around her, and then fed them one by one,” he says. Each dog had a menu formulated just for him or her.
Unfortunately, the Corgi era may be coming to an end. In February 2015, the queen declared that she would not be adding any additional dogs to her household because of her age. “Her main fear is that if she fell and broke her arm or even a leg she would not be able to perform her duties for many weeks if not months, and that would upset her greatly,” a senior courtier was reported saying. She is currently left with two purebred, Willow and Holly, and two Corgi-Dachshund mixes, Candy and Vulcan.
Interestingly, in a book published last year, family friend Ben Fogle published a book about Labrador Retrievers (which AKC named the most popular breed again in 2015). In the book, he stated that the queen also has a kennel of Labs with whom she wishes she could spend more time.
See a video of the queen and her beloved dogs: