A royal pooch! There’s one member of Duchess Kate and Prince William’s royal family that doesn’t get as much attention as he deserves: their adorable pup, Lupo.
Lupo is Kate and William’s English Cocker Spaniel. His mother is a dog named Ella, a furry pal that’s owned by the Duchess’ parents, Michael and Carole Middleton. He was a part of the couple’s family one year before they welcomed their eldest child, Prince George, 6. They later welcomed Princess Charlotte, 4, in 2015 and Prince Louis, 19 months, in 2018.
The world first learned of Lupo, a name of Italian origin meaning “wolf,” when he joined the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 37, for a stroll in January 2012. The furry companion was seen walking along a beach in North Wales with the longtime couple, who wed in 2011.
The couple refrained from revealing the pup’s name for some time and a spokesperson even noted in that “it is a private matter,” per The Daily Beast. The royal couple didn’t disclose their pup’s name until Kate accidentally let the news slip while attending an art therapy session in February 2012 at the Rose Hill Primary School in Oxford.
Lupo, whose age hasn’t been disclosed to the public, is also a star in his own right. British author Aby King launched the Adventures of a Royal Dog series, which features stories that are inspired by the famous pet’s life. The series kicked off with Lupo & The Secret of Windsor Castle in 2014, followed by three additional stories.
Lupo isn’t the only royal pet, however. Kate and William also have a hamster named Marvin. The pet has never been photographed, but a fan created a Twitter account dedicated to Marvin that features cartoon drawings of the hamster in various looks and settings.
Kate and William aren’t the only members of the royal family who have an appreciation for animals. Queen Elizabeth II is a lover of Corgis. She received her first Pembroke Welsh Corgi, named Dookie, at the age of 7 — and she hasn’t turned back!
Kate isn’t the only Middleton who loves her furry friends. Her younger brother, James Middleton, is a dog father to five pups: Mabel, Ella, Zulu, Inka and Luna. In an op-ed for The Daily Mail, he opened up about how his doggos have helped him through his struggles with depression.
“I recognize, too, the role my dogs — Ella, Inca, Luna, Zulu and Mabel — have played in my recovery,” he wrote in January 2019. “Ella, particularly, has been my constant companion for ten years and she’s been with me to all my therapy sessions. In her own particular way, she has kept me going. As a result, Ella and I now volunteer with the Pets As Therapy charity and Ella is a fully-fledged therapy dog for PAT.”
For more on the royal family’s love of pets, check out the video above!
