Queen’s beloved corgis with her in f inal hours

TWO of the late Queen’s corgis were by the side of Her Majesty in her final hours, The Mail on Sunday understands.

The beloved pets, Muick and Sandy, were ‘with her in the room’ at her deathbed on September 8, according to Palace sources.

Muick and Sandy touched people’s hearts with their poignant appearance at Windsor Castle during the Queen’s last journey on Monday.

Prince Andrew had given Muick, named after Loch Muick on the Balmoral estate, and pronounced ‘Mick’, to the Queen as a pup, along with another named Fergus. When Fergus died three months later, another corgi, Sandy, was found to

‘Prince Philip has already told me that I have too many dogs’

replace him with the help of the Queen’s granddaughter Princess Beatrice.

Although the Queen adored her corgis, her pets did not always reciprocate her unwavering loyalty. In the 1980s, she was nipped on the hand by a corgi and needed stitches.

After that, she drafted in a behaviour expert, Dr Roger Mugford, to help manage the pack, which had at the time swelled to nine. One was so unruly he was sent to live with the Queen’s daughter, Princess Anne.

When Dr Mugford advised the Queen to have fewer dogs, she responded: ‘Dr Mugford, Prince Philip has already told me that I have too many dogs. If I wanted advice of that sort, I could have saved your fee.’

Undeterred, the monarch continued to expand her collection of corgis and other dogs, owning 30 in total during her 70-year reign.

The first Pembroke Welsh corgi she owned was Susan, a present on her 18th birthday in 1944. Susan died in 1959 and is buried at the pet cemetery at Sandringham.

In 1971, the Queen was credited with inventing the dorgi, after her corgi Tiny crossed with her sister Princess Margaret’s dachshund Pipkin. Last week, Dr Mugford said that the animals were ‘psychologically so important’ for the Queen’s happiness, adding that he believed they would be happy living in the familiar surroundings of Prince Andrew’s home, Royal Lodge, on Windsor Great Park. The Queen’s other dog, Lissy, whose pedigree name is Wolferton Drama, is the current Kennel Club cocker spaniel gundog champion.

While the Queen bred corgis until 2015, she resisted taking on dogs in recent years as she did not want to leave any behind. She accepted Muik and Sandy on the basis that Prince Andrew or Princess Beatrice would have them back.

Just as her family had planned, they were with her until the end.