The Queen's new Corgi puppies Muick and Sandy were a "constant joy" for her during lockdown, one of her closest aides has revealed.
Angela Kelly has told how the pets "always brought a smile to everyone's faces" in a new chapter for her book The Other Side of the Coin, The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, which is published in this week's HELLO! magazine.
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Revealing the name of the newest of the Queen's puppies for the first time, she writes: "I was worried they would get under The Queen's feet, but they have turned out to be a godsend. They are beautiful and great fun and The Queen often takes long walks with them in Home Park."
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Angela, whose official title is Her Majesty's Personal Advisor and Curator (The Queen's Jewellery, Insignias and Wardrobe), isolated with the Queen at Windsor Castle throughout lockdown.
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The Queen has owned pet dogs since she was 18
The Queen, who has owned Corgis since she was given one called Susan by her father King George VI on her 18th birthday, was given two new puppies, a Corgi, Muick and a Dorgi, Fergus, in February 2021, but Fergus sadly died just three months later.
The puppies had been gifts from the Duke of York and his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, to keep the Queen company while Prince Philip was in hospital. In June last year, they gave her another Corgi puppy to keep Muick company but his name, Sandy, was not made public until now.
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The monarch also has an elderly Dorgi called Candy, who recently appeared in footage of the Queen viewing items from her previous jubilee celebrations at Windsor.
Angela says of Muick and Sandy's first Royal flight, when the Queen flew to Balmoral in August 2021, "They were very well behaved, with Louis the footman on hand. Candy, who is an old hand at flying – she must have been on hundreds of flights in her lifetime – ambled about and kept her eye on the young pups.
"The puppies stayed close to The Queen but occasionally sniffed around your feet as they hoped for a nibble of something tasty from our lunch."
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The Other Side of the Coin [Platinum Edition], by Angela Kelly, will be published by HarperCollins on May 12th 2022, at £25.00 Copyright © Angela Kelly 2022
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