The Queen's corgis are treated like royalty, with individual menus featuring steak, rabbit, or chicken, served from silver and porcelain dishes by a liveried butler, according to animal psychologist Dr Roger Mugford. In a forthcoming special edition of Town & Country magazine, Mugford reveals that the dogs are fed in strict order of seniority, sitting in a semi-circle and waiting patiently for their turn.
Mugford, who has worked for the royal household for decades, observed that each dog's meal includes homeopathic and herbal remedies. The Queen has owned about 30 corgis during her reign, starting with Susan, a gift for her 18th birthday. Prince Philip has been heard to exclaim, 'Bloody dogs. Why do you have so many?'
The Queen and her sister Margaret invented the 'dorgi' by crossbreeding a corgi with a dachshund. The Kennel Club once remarked that such dogs would be ideal for retrieving cattle from badger holes. The corgis have appeared in portraits, on a golden jubilee coin, and even in a James Bond sketch during the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony.
The Queen stopped breeding corgis in recent years, leaving her with two corgis, Willow and Holly, and two dorgis, Candy and Vulcan. Mugford noted that the Queen shows deep compassion for animals and disapproved of US President Lyndon Johnson picking up his dogs by the ears. 'When she's talking about her dogs or her horses, you see a completely different side to her: she relaxes,' Mugford wrote.
Royal staff have had mixed experiences with the dogs, often tripping over them and cleaning up accidents with blotting paper and soda siphons. One footman reportedly spiked the dogs' food with gin and whisky, watching them stagger around the palace gardens before being dismissed.
