The Queen to stop breeding corgis

It is the end of an era as the most famous person in the world to champion the Corgi dog breed decides to stop breeding Corgis.  The Queen has decided that following the deaths of two of her favourite Corgis, she will let her seven strong pack of Corgis leave her naturally rather than replacing them by breeding as she would have done in the past.

The Queen has kept Corgis since 1944 when her parents presented her with a Corgi named Susan, after the Princess clamoured for one of her own having being playing in Hyde Park with a corgi that belonged to Viscount Weymouth, later to become the Marquess of Bath.  All of the Queen’s Corgis have descended from this one dog who passed away in 1959 and in all, at the grand age of 83 years old, the Queen has now kept more than 30 of the little dogs.

The Queen did have nine dogs, five of whom were Corgis and four were ‘dorgis’, Corgis cross bred with Dachshunds, but now the two Corgis have passed away, the seven remaining dogs – named Holly, Linnet, Monty, Candy, Cider, Berry and Vulcan – will be the last of the royal pack.

The Corgis have lived a luxurious life with the Queen; they have their own ‘Corgi Room’ a box room containing their wicker baskets, held inches from the floor to avoid any draughts.  According to a former royal chef, a menu would be typed up daily for the little dogs varying from chuck steak, poached chicken or rabbit, served boiled and diced with Pedigree Chum, cabbage and rice, with the odd crumbled scone for a treat.

They flew private class and were carried from plane to coach by butlers and waiting staff.  Reportedly, the Corgis even pulled Paul Burrell down a flight of stairs once, knocking him unconscious…  oh, how they will be missed.

Discipline is an area for the Queen apparently, with only she and she alone allowed to tell the Corgis off.  When it came to breeding, each Corgi or Dorgi bitch was allowed one litter by a pedigree stud dog, although the puppies were never sold.  The Queen would keep one or two back to replenish her pack and would give the others away to good homes, although never to her own family.  The Queen is also reported to be refreshing no nonsense and very hands on when it comes to whelping.

One of the Queen’s favourite Corgis died in April this year from cancer and she was said to be ‘deeply upset’.  Another favourite passes away from the same illness just earlier this month.

According to the Sun newspaper, a senior royal source told them:

“It’s a sign she realises she is getting older and can’t look after such a large pack.”

Although Corgi fans and dog lovers everywhere will no doubt be dismayed at the end of such an era, there might, perhaps, be a few members of the Royal staff celebrating at the thought of no longer watching for the little dogs underfoot or cleaning up dog hair from the Royal couch, and Prince Philip was always reportedly less than keen on the breed, having once been heard to say

“’Bloody dogs! Why do you have to have so many?’”

Comedians everywhere will sigh at the loss of such an endless source of jokes but will no doubt get the last few laughs from the subject.  Indeed, they had a whale of a time when Princess Michael was said to have stated she felt like shooting them, to which the Queen retorted:

“’They’re better behaved than she is.’”

The royal Corgis have given great delight to the Queen and to the public over the years, and although practicality is obviously playing a huge role in the Queen’s decision, it is a real shame to see an end to the dynasty of the royal Corgis.

Darren Jamieson