After Queen Elizabeth II’s death, Prince Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson brought home her two corgis, Muick and Sandy. In a new interview, the Duchess of York speaks fondly of the dogs.
Queen Elizabeth’s corgis appear to be doing paw-some.
In an Oct. 5 interview with the Telegraph newspaper, one of their new pet parents, Sarah Ferguson, gave an update about the well-being of Muick and Sandy. The Duchess of York said it was a “big honor” to have taken in the late monarch’s dogs, which she called “national treasures” and said they had “been taught well.”
Her ex-husband Prince Andrew, the monarch’s son, had originally gifted the Pembroke Welsh corgis to the Queen. After she died at age 96 on Sept. 8, the dogs were returned to live with him and Sarah, who reside together at Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle. At their new home, the pets have gained some new dog siblings, the former couple’s five Norfolk terriers, the Telegraph reported.
“They all balance out,” the duchess told the newspaper, laughing. “The carpet moves as I move but I’ve got used to it now.”
In March 2021, while the Queen lived at Windsor during COVID-19 lockdown, Andrew gave her Muick and a dorgi, Fergus, who Sarah found as puppies. The Duke of York had gifted the dogs to the monarch, who raised corgis and corgi-dachshund mixes her whole life, in a bid to cheer her up when her husband Prince Philip was hospitalized, The Telegraph reported.
The Duke of Edinburgh passed away at age 99 a month later, while Fergus died the following May. Andrew then gave the Queen another corgi puppy, Sandy, who Sarah had also found for her.
The dog and Muick, now a bonded pair, brought millions of people to tears Sept. 19 when footage was broadcast of them being brought out to await the arrival of the Queen’s coffin at Windsor, her final resting place, following a state funeral. Andrew was also photographed petting the pups.
Two days earlier, her grandson Prince William, now second-in-line to the British throne, told a worried fan waiting in line to view his grandmother’s coffin lying in state at Westminster Palace in London that he had recently seen Muick and Sandy and that the dogs were “going to be looked after fine.”
The Prince of Wales added, “They are two very friendly corgis so they’ve got a good home. They’ll be looked after very well, spoilt rotten I’m sure.”
In addition to Muick and Sandy, the Queen was also survived by a cocker spaniel, Lissy. Multiple reports have said that it is believed that the pet, who won the 2022 Kennel Club Cocker Spaniel Championship, currently lives with her trainer.
In addition, the Queen cared for a dorgi named Candy for 18 years prior to her death. Multiple outlets reported after her passing that the dog died this past summer. The royal family has not commented on the reports.
See photos of the Queen with her many dogs over the years:
Sandy and Muick, the Queen’s surviving corgis, await the arrival of her coffin at Windsor Castle, her final resting place, following a state funeral Sept. 8, 2022.
The Queen appears with her dogs Willow, Vulcan, Candy and Holly on the grounds of Windsor Castle in this 90th birthday portrait released in 2016.
