Queen Elizabeth II is welcoming a new member into the Royal family! As a long-time Corgi-lover Her Majesty has adopted a new dog.
"My corgis are family," the Queen has said.
Since the 1950's, with considerable help, the Queen has personally overseen a program of corgi breeding that is based on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
All of the purebred puppies from her kennel are registered and she never allows to compete at dog shows. The Queen has never sold one of her dogs, but she has given many away as gifts.
Corgis are known to be working dogs for hundreds of years. Herding sheep and cattle on farms in Wales, you can spot these dogs along the English country-side.
As an 18th-birthday present for Elizabeth, a 2-month-old Corgi was welcomed into the family. Elizabeth and Susan became inseparable. In 1947, the dog was hidden under the blankets of the royal carriage when Elizabeth left for her honeymoon to Scotland with Philip Mountbatten.
A year after The Queen gave birth to Charles, Susan followed her into motherhood giving birth to a pair of puppies, Sugar who belonged to infant Prince Charles, and Honey who later lived with the Queen Mum.
The Queen's current dogs Holly and Willow appear to be 14th generation of Susan's descents.
Continue to the next page to see the newest addition to the Royal Family.
The Queen's latest addition, named Whisper, used to belong to Bill Fenwick, who served as Sandringham's gamekeeper until his death earlier this year at the age of 93.
As his health was failing, the 91-year-old Monarch would take his dogs for walks around the grounds. She continued the walks even after his death, which makes her a natural friend to this furry canine.
"She couldn't resist Whisper," a source told The Sun. "Now she has asked Bill's family if she can keep him."
The 9-year-old Corgi was originally bred by The Queen and given to the Fenwick family.
"The Queen bred Whisper and gave him to Nancy and Bill as a gift. She was very fond of them and they became close friends. Nancy died aged 85 and the Queen went to her funeral," according to the Sun.
It's uncommon for The Queen to attend funerals, apart from those of other royals, so this goes to show how fond she was of the family.
The Queen already has 3 other dogs, a Corgi named Willow, 2 Corgi-Dachshund mixes named Vulcan and Candy, who posed for photographer Annie Leibovitz last year. Also in the photograph was Corgi Holly, who passed away last October.
The Fenwicks often kept and trained the Queen's Corgis. It was even said that they were given a two-story house so that the dogs could practice going up and down stairs to help prepare them for getting on and off of airplanes.
After her fifth dog Monty died in 2012, she didn't want to get a new dog.
"[S]he didn't want to have any more young dogs," Monty Roberts, a palace animal adviser said. "She didn't want to leave any young dog behind. She wanted to put an end to it."
In 2014, the Queen decided not to breed any more of her signature dogs, the Pembroke Welsh Corgis because of concerns for the future.
"The Queen has always had corgis but she made the decision four years ago not to breed any more because she didn't want to have a bad fall," a source told The Sun. "She was also concerned dogs might be left without an owner if anything happened to her."
Sources: The Sun UK / People / The Sun UK / Vanity Fair
