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The Duke of York may take in Queen Elizabeth II's beloved dogs following her death on Thursday at age 96.
The Queen was well-known for her love of corgis, having owned more than 30 throughout her time on the throne. When she died at Scotland's Balmoral Castle, The Washington Post reported that she left behind at least four dogs: a corgi-dachshund mix called a dorgi, two Pembroke Welsh corgis, and a cocker spaniel.
The elderly dorgi is named Candy, the cocker spaniel is named Lissy, and her two corgis are named Muick and Sandy. According to The Times, Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, and Princess Eugenie gifted Queen Elizabeth Muick to keep her company while the late Prince Philip was hospitalized. Prince Andrew gave her a second corgi, Sandy, in June on what would have been Prince Philip's birthday, the outlet reported.
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It's not confirmed what will happen to the four dogs or where they will go, but royal biographer Ingrid Seward told Newsweek they'd likely 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," Seward told the outlet.
She shared similar sentiments with The Times, saying, "It would seem most logical that they go back to Andrew. He would be very happy to look after them. Let's face it, he hasn't got anything else to do. I think he would be quite honoured to do that."
Representatives for Buckingham Palace and the Duke of York did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
BBC reported that Queen Elizabeth II's lifelong love of corgis began in 1933 when, through a childhood friend, she was introduced to the breed at 7 years old. Her father, King George VI, soon brought home a corgi for Queen Elizabeth named Dookie.
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She was later gifted a Pembroke Welsh corgi named Susan on her 18th birthday. The royal corgis that remained by Queen Elizabeth's side over the decades were all descendants of Susan. The BBC published Susan's lineage tree, which showed nearly 60 corgis and five dorgis descended from the dog.
The last corgi bred by Queen Elizabeth II, named Willow, died in 2018 before her 92 birthday. A source at the time told Mail Online that Willow's death deeply affected the Queen.
"She has mourned every one of her corgis over the years, but she has been more upset about Willow's death than any of them," the source said. "It is probably because Willow was the last link to her parents and a pastime that goes back to her own childhood. It really does feel like the end of an era."
Express reported that Queen Elizabeth II stopped breeding corgis or replacing her dogs when they died in 2015. Queen Elizabeth II became worried that she might trip over the smaller dogs, resulting in injury, the outlet reported.
