Queen Elizabeth and her pets

Queen Elizabeth’s beloved dogs were part of the late monarch's image, even starring alongside her in a video with then-James Bond actor Daniel Craig in 2012. But they were not the only animals owned by the British ruler, who passed away on Thursday aged 96. 

The British queen owned corgis since she was a child. The first corgi named Dookie was brought to the castle in 1933 by her father, King George VI.

Elizabeth later received her own dog Susan as a present when she turned 18. She has since owned nearly 30 corgis, most of them related to Susan. The queen also had dorgis, which is a crossbreed of dachshund and corgi, and cocker spaniels. 

She stopped breeding corgis around 2018, allegedly out of fear that the dogs would be left behind when she passed. However, in 2021 the queen received two puppies after one of her dogs died shortly after her husband Prince Philip passed away.   

Elizabeth is believed to be survived by two Welsh corgis named Muick and Sandy, a dorgi called Candy, and a cocker spaniel. According to royal biographers, it is most likely that they will be inherited by the queen’s children, with British media naming the queen's youngest son, Prince Andrew, as the most likely candidate. 

Apart from dogs and horses, which the queen was very fond of as well, there are lesser-known “pets” left after Elizabeth’s passing. Earlier on Saturday, the Buckingham Palace keeper John Chapple said that he had informed the royal bees of the queen’s death.

Black ribbons were placed around the hives both at the Palace and Clarence House. The keeper also announced to the bees that Charles III is now their new master.

“You knock on each hive and say, ‘The mistress is dead, but don't you go. Your master will be a good master to you,” Chapple explained to the British media. 

The ancient Celtic tradition claims the bees must be updated about the death of the monarch as it is feared that otherwise they will stop producing honey. 

Another part of the queen’s animal menagerie are swans. Under the centuries-old British law, she owned all of the mute unmarked white birds in the country.

The legislation, originally aimed at protecting the swans from being eaten as a delicacy, allowed the monarch to pass the rights of ownership to favored associates. 

“Today The Crown retains the right of ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water, but The Queen mainly exercises this right on certain stretches of the River Thames and its surrounding tributaries,” according to the Royal Family’s official website. 

The queen’s rights also applied to dead birds, which meant that taxidermists were required to ask the Queen’s Swan Marker for permission to use the body of a swan even for educational purposes.

The late monarch also owned all the dolphins and whales in British waters under the law dating back to 1324. According to the legislation, the animals can therefore be referred to as “fishes royal.”