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Queen Elizabeth‘s corgis were beloved to her throughout her life, but they were also known to occasionally attack people, each other, and even their royal owner. Read on to learn more about the late queen’s history with her dogs and some instances where a royal pet made a victim out of someone.

Queen Elizabeth II, pictured with a pet corgi c. 1970, owned a few corgis that would attack.
Queen Elizabeth II | Bettmann/Getty Images

The late queen was famously fond of corgis

Queen Elizabeth’s love for corgis began in her childhood with the royal family’s dogs (ABC News). When she turned 18, she received a corgi she named Susan, and thus began a long line of pets for the monarch.

She was believed to have had at least 30 corgis, and corgi mixes, over 70 years. The furry friends would keep her company in her offices, but they also traveled the world with her. Susan even joined Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on their honeymoon.

But, as expected in a line of 30 dogs, not every corgi in the palace kept the peace. Some developed a bit of a reputation for being vicious, thus leading to a whole section on Wikipedia for their “attacks.”

Queen Elizabeth’s corgis were known to attack

Over the many decades the late queen owned corgis, she had a few that were prone to displays of aggression. This note in their history is now included in the “attacks” section, once labeled “victims,” on the “royal corgis” Wikipedia page.

According to ABC News, the queen’s dogs sometimes nibbled on people. They “nipped the royal clock winder, [tore] the seat out of an officer’s trousers, and even [bit] her majesty.”

But she wasn’t the only royal whose corgis could be vicious. In 1989, one of the Queen Mother’s corgis sadly attacked and killed one of the monarch’s beloved dogs.

Things became so concerning at the castle that Queen Elizabeth invited “the corgi whisperer” Roger Mugford to Windsor to work with her nine pets. “They’re easily trained,” Mugford told Nightline (per ABC News).

“They’re very intelligent,” he added. “Everybody that owns a corgi always says they are a big dog in a little frame.”

Queen Elizabeth’s corgis once bit her so severely in an attack that she needed stitches

According to the “royal corgis” Wikipedia, some of the queen’s dogs were notorious for their aggressive antics. They reportedly caused the placement of a sign at her summer home, Balmoral Castle, warning people to beware of them.

But Queen Elizabeth was not immune, and she received some bites. One particular injury was so bad it required her to get stitches. As reported by the Toledo Blade in 1991, the late monarch tried to intervene in a dog fight at Windsor Castle.

There were reportedly ten dogs involved in the melee, and a spokesperson reported that the queen needed three stitches. A driver was also bitten in an attempt to stop the skirmish, and he required a tetanus shot.

Queen Elizabeth carried her love for dogs throughout her life, leaving behind four. She had two like-new corgis, a “dorgi” or dachshund-corgi mix, and a cocker spaniel. Terrible rumors suggested those dogs would be buried with her, but they will reportedly go to live with her family.

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