Prince William has reassured mourners The Queen’s corgis are being looked after “very well” in the wake of her death.
The late monarch – who died aged 96 on September 8 – has two corgis left, Sandy and Muick, after her beloved dorgi (dachshund-corgi cross) passed away aged 18, just months before she passed away.
And the Prince of Wales told those queuing in Lambeth, south London to see the queen’s coffin lying in state at Westminster Hall that the monarch’s canine companions have a “good home”.
He told them in a clip shared by Sky News: “I saw them the other day. They’re going to be looked after fine, they’re two very friendly corgis and they’ve got a good home.”
He added: “They’re being looked after very well, spoilt rotten I’m sure.”
The corgis are believed to be being looked after by the Duke of York and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York.
A spokesperson for Prince Andrew said last weekend that he and Sarah will take on the pets – who were gifted to the queen by the duke during lockdown to lift her spirits while her late husband the Duke of Edinburgh was in hospital and she was staying in Windsor.
Her Majesty’s dogs were each descended from her first, Susan, an 18th birthday present from her father, George VI.
A source also revealed the Duke of York would take the dogs into his 30-bedroom Royal Lodge home in Windsor.
An insider was quoted by The Sun saying: “It’s fascinating – Charles is now King, Camilla is Queen Consort, William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales… (Andrew) just gets the dogs.
“At least he’s got plenty of time on his hands after stepping back from Royal duties.”
In early 2021, the Queen was given two new puppies, one corgi, and one dorgi.
The monarch named the dorgi Fergus after an uncle, her mother’s brother, Fergus Bowes-Lyon, who was killed in World War I in 1915.
Muick was named after a favourite spot near Balmoral Castle, where she traditionally spent her summers.
The late monarch was left devastated after five-month-old Fergus died just weeks after she received him, shortly after Philip also died, in April 2021 aged 99.
He was later replaced with a new corgi puppy from Andrew and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie for her official 95th birthday, who the Queen named Sandy.