A final farewell. During Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral service on Monday, September 19, the late monarch’s pets were present to pay tribute.
Several of the horses that helped lead Elizabeth’s coffin procession from Westminster Abbey to her final resting place in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle were originally gifts from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The queen received eight horses in 1969 and four of them — George, Elizabeth, Darby and Sir John — were seen front and center amid the memorial service.
“The horses are an unequivocally important part of that,” the fleet’s ceremonial coordinator, Captain Catherine Russell, told the New York Post on Monday about the addition. “We want to make her proud.”
Elizabeth’s two corgis were also seen in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle as her casket arrived via the procession.
Her Majesty, who owned 30 dogs during her reign, received her first corgi on her 18th birthday in 1944. Over the years, Elizabeth continued to breed corgis which lived with her at Buckingham Palace.
“The dogs sleep in the home with the Royal Family, and they certainly are well-fed,” corgi trainer Roger Mugford told Town & Country in July 2015 about working with the puppies. “The context and content of their meals is very important to Her Majesty, who tailors what they are fed to their age, clinical needs, and so on.”
He added: “The queen is a great believer in homeopathy and herbal medicines, and each dog has a unique menu. Eight exotic porcelain bowls are carried in by a butler, each for a particular dog. Eight dogs are arranged in a semi-circle to sit and wait to be given their meal bowls. It’s all disciplined and well-organized by Her Majesty; few other owners can exert such control over their dogs to ‘wait’ for their food in turn.”
The monarch passed away “peacefully” at her Balmoral estate in Scotland on September 8, according to a statement from Buckingham Palace. She was 96. Hours earlier, the palace confirmed that Elizabeth’s doctors placed her “under medical supervision” in her residence.
Following her death, Elizabeth’s son Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson received custody of the remaining corgis. The Duke of York, 62, previously gifted his mother with a puppy on her 95th birthday with daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Prince William recently offered a glimpse at how the animals were doing after their owner’s passing. “I saw them the other day,” he told a well-wisher in London on Saturday, September 17, according to Sky News. “They’re going to be looked after fine, they’re two very friendly corgis and they’ve got a good home. They’re being looked after very well, spoiled rotten I’m sure.”
The Prince of Wales, 40, also opened up about how he was handling his grandmother’s death. “Dogs at this time are so important,” he explained on September 10. “I give my dogs a lot of cuddles at the moment. I’ve got a little spaniel called Oral. She’s very sweet.”
