Sarah, Duchess of York, has looked after the late Queen’s corgis Sandy and Muick since the her death almost three years ago – and she has now claimed the dogs send her messages from the former monarch
Fergie claims that the late Queen still speaks to her by sending messages through her beloved corgis. The Duchess of York took in the former monarch’s surviving dogs, Sandy and Muick, when Elizabeth II died almost three years ago, joining her five other Norfolk Terriers.
Now, Sarah, along with her ex-husband Prince Andrew, cares for the dogs at their Royal Lodge home in Windsor. And in a new interview, Fergie says she is sure that when the dogs bark, it is actually her late mother-in-law reminding her that she is still there. Speaking at the Creative Women Platform Forum in London, she revealed, smiling: “I have her dogs, I have her corgis.
“Every morning they come in and go ‘woof woof’ and all that, and I’m sure it’s her talking to me. I’m sure it’s her, reminding me she’s still around. Anyway, the real thing is that I had the greatest honour to be her daughter-in-law. That’s pretty huge.
“And when I was driving here, I saw the Elizabeth Line [on the Tube] and I said ‘I want everyone to remember what an amazing lady she was’.” Sandy and Muick were a gift to the Queen by Sarah and her ex-husband, Prince Andrew and their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Andrew and his family presented the late Queen with two puppies during lockdown to help keep her entertained at Windsor while her husband, the late Prince Philip, was in hospital.
The dogs earned a special place in the hearts of the nation when they were seen saying a final goodbye to their previous owner at her funeral in Windsor. After her passing, at the age of 96, the pets were given back to Sarah to look after, though she previously admitted it wasn’t an easy task.
She once shared the joys and stresses that come with looking after the dogs, and revealed why she believes they “bark at nothing” as the “Queen is passing by”.
She explained: “They are national icons, so every time they run chasing a squirrel, I panic. But they’re total joys, and I always think that when they bark at nothing, and there’s no squirrels in sight, I believe it’s because the Queen is passing by.”
However, she did also reveal that she consulted a dog whisperer shortly after Elizabeth II died, as she was worried about the dogs’ grief.
She told ITV’s Loose Women: “I went to a dog whisperer and said, ‘Now tell me about grief’. And he said, ‘Just at night, just make sure they have their own space’. Yeah, so I do. Because I think they were grieving – their little tails went down. And I wanted to make them have waggy tails.”
In her lifetime, it’s thought that the Queen owned 30 corgis, each with their own unique name. Other royal Corgis include Susan, Willow, Holly, Vulcan, Dookie, Monty, Honey, Berry, Emma, and Linnet.