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Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will reportedly take care of Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved corgis following her death Thursday. She was 96.
The Duke and Duchess of York gave Her Majesty two of her favorite breed of dogs just last year after her late husband, Prince Philip, died in April 2021 in efforts to lift her spirits.
“The corgis will return to live at Royal Lodge with the Duke and Duchess. It was the Duchess who found the puppies which were gifted to Her Majesty by the Duke,” a source told BBC News.
“The Duchess bonded with Her Majesty over dog walking and riding horses, and even after her divorce, she would continue her great friendship with Her Majesty, by walking the dogs in Frogmore and chatting.”
QUEEN ELIZABETH II’S COFFIN ARRIVES IN EDIBURGH, SCOTLAND
Queen Elizabeth II loved corgis (pictured left in 1970) and reportedly bestowed her pets onto son Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. The Queen (right) was seen with Sandy, her corgi, in February 2022.
(Getty Images)
Royal Lodge is located on the grounds of Windsor Estate next to Windsor Castle. Despite Andrew and Sarah divorcing in 1996, they continue to live together at the mansion.
PRESIDENT BIDEN FORMALLY ACCEPTS INVITATION TO QUEEN ELIZABETH II’S FUNERAL
The family, along with daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, gave the Queen two dogs last spring in efforts to lift her spirits amid the COVID-19 lockdown, one named Muick and a puppy named Fergus.
Andrew then gifted his mother a corgi named Sandy for her 95th birthday.
Elizabeth’s love for corgis began in 1933 when her father, King George VI, brought home a Pembroke Welsh corgi they named Dookie. Images of a young Elizabeth walking the dog outside their lavish London home would be the first among many to come over the decades.
Queen Elizabeth II of England at Balmoral Castle with one of her Corgis, pictured in 1952.
(Getty Images)
“One of the intriguing things people are wondering about at the funeral is whether a corgi is going to be present,” said Robert Lacey, royal historian and author of “Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor.″ “The queen’s best friends were corgis, these short-legged, ill tempered beasts with a yap that doesn’t appeal to many people in Britain, but was absolutely crucial to the Queen.”
“She was also concerned about what would happen to her dogs when she is no longer around,” British author Penny Junor wrote in a 2018 biography, “All the Queen’s Corgis.”
Junor noted that some royal family members did not share her fondness for the breed.
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While Elizabeth chose their names, walked and fed the dogs, and when they died, she buried them with individual plaques, most of their care was trusted to her assistant, Angela Kelly, and page, Paul Whybrew.
Queen Elizabeth II greeted by local corgi enthusiasts as she departs the Legislature Building during a trip to Canada in 2005.
(Fiona Hanson)
After the death of her corgi Willow in 2018, it was reported that the queen would not be getting any more dogs.
Following her late husband Prince Philip’s death in 2021 at the age of 99, she was given another dog on what would have been his 100th birthday.
Charles III was formally proclaimed king by the Accession Council Saturday during a historic ceremony at St. James Palace.
“I shall strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set in upholding constitutional government and to seek the peace, harmony and prosperity of the peoples of these islands, and of the Commonwealth realms and territories throughout the world,” the King said.
The ceremony was attended by Prince William of Wales and the Kings wife, Camilla who has become Queen Consort.
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Fox News’ Caitlin McFall and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
