WELSH CORGI-The Queen's Favourite written By Rutaksha Rawat

June marked the British Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, as the monarch completed 60 years of reign. As the Diamond Jubilee celebration kicked off by London’s river Thames, the ‘Jubilee fever’ also hit the British souvenir market. As in the case of the royal wedding, when Duchess Kate’s royal blue engagement dress and Prince William’s smile were immortalised in tea bags, lingerie collections, mugs and plates as the couple’s trademark features, Queen Elizabeth II, too, was commemorated with her patent crown and her favourite dog — the Corgi, distinctly marking the breed as a royal favourite.

The Queen and her Corgis

Although it is no secret that the British royals have long favoured the Corgi, the diamond jubilee celebrations have once again brought the breed to prominence, with souvenir makers putting the breed on several souvenir items alongside the queen — from knitted hats depicting the monarch standing next to a Corgi dog to paintings, mugs, key chains, cutlery, calendars, etc, with similar themes.

The queen's love affair with the breed began when she received her first Corgi, Susan, on her 18th birthday. Her Majesty now owns three Welsh Pembrokes – Monty, Willow and Holly – who are all descendants of Susan. “Her Majesty is the only Pembroke Corgi Breeder to line breed back to her foundation bitch,” says Diana King, chairman, Welsh Corgi League, UK.

Royal aides say that the pet Corgis travel with the queen to her various residences and she looks after them herself as much as possible, given her busy schedule. If they go in a plane, the dogs have to be carried up the steps by the queen’s footmen. When she lives at Buckingham Palace, the dogs sleep in raised wicker baskets in a special boot room near the royal apartments, where they wander freely. During dress fittings the queen carries a special magnet to pick up fallen pins to save the Corgis from getting pricked. The daily menu for the royal pets is typed and tacked in the kitchen and their diet includes steak, poached chicken, liver and rabbit meat. The royal chefs also bake buttered scones to serve the queen at tea, most of which she offers to the dogs. Nobody is allowed to discipline the dogs except the queen herself. It must be noted that there are two varieties of Welsh Corgis and the one the Queen has are Pembroke.

About the Breed

The Welsh Corgi is a small type of herding dog that originated in Wales. Two distinct Welsh Corgi breeds are recognised: the Pembroke Welsh Corgi and the Cardigan Welsh Corgi, with the Pembroke being the more common and popular.