No, Queen Elizabeth II Will Not Be Buried With Her Corgis — This Is What Will Really Happen to Her Beloved Dogs
Queen Elizabeth II’s passing will be making headlines for weeks to come — but some of them will include misinformation. Just hours after the monarch’s death, a headline that was intended to be a joke claimed that the queen’s beloved corgis would be buried alive with her. That tweet proceeded to get thousands of likes and retweets, causing confusion and losing the joke in the process. The truth is — no, Queen Elizabeth II will not be buried with her dogs.
Why was Queen Elizabeth obsessed with corgis?
The late queen was known for her obsession with corgis, and the canine breed became synonymous with the monarch during her seven decades on the throne. According to Vanity Fair, the dogs have been part of the royal family since the days of Queen Victoria. But, Queen Elizabeth’s bond with the breed was something special.
That bond began long before she met and married Prince Philip — and long before she knew she would be queen. At the age of seven in 1933, then-Princess Elizabeth specifically requested a Pembroke Welsh corgi after meeting her friend’s pet.
Insiders have claimed that she loved this specific breed because of their energy and spirit. And her father, fellow dog lover King George VI, was able to find a breeder despite the lively dogs being fairly rare in England. At the time, corgis were mostly bred in Wales. She named her puppy Dookie, and he was the first in a long line of royal corgis that would follow.
Queen Elizabeth loved corgis so much that in the 1970s, she and her sister — Princess Margaret — created their own hybrid breed called the “dorgi.” It was a cross between a corgi and a dachshund. In total, the queen owned more than 30 corgis and dorgis during her lifetime.
No, Her Majesty will not be buried with her beloved corgis
On her 18th birthday, Her Majesty received a Pembroke Welsh corgi puppy named Susan, who would be by her side for her coronation and wedding. Susan bred with a dog called Rozavel Lucky Strike, and their offspring began the royal corgi dynasty.
The majority of the corgi dogs in the royal family were descendants of Susan, with 14 generations living with the queen. Her last descendant — named Willow — died in 2015, as the queen stopped breeding the dogs when she reached her 90s.
When she died, Queen Elizabeth left behind four dogs — two corgis named Muick and Sandy, a dorgi called Candy, and a cocker spaniel named Lissy. Despite a tweet from Reductress claiming that they would all be “buried alive” with her — which was a cheap joke that lead to memes and conspiracy theories on social media — that’s not what will happen.
Queen Elizabeth’s will determines what happens to the dogs
The palace has yet to reveal the plan for the dogs now that Her Majesty has passed. But, there is speculation that they will go to the queen’s children.
“I imagine the dogs would be looked after by the family, probably Andrew [as] he’s the one that gave them to her, they’re quite young, the corgi and the dorgi,” royal expert Ingrid Seward told Newsweek.
According to TMZ, the fate of the queen’s four dogs will ultimately be found in her will. However, the contents of that document will probably be sealed for decades.
When her husband died in the spring of 2021, an English judge revealed that the Duke of Edinburgh’s will would be sealed for 90 years. The same thing will likely happen with Her Majesty’s last will and testament.
