Andrew keeps Queen’s corgis

... and Fergie will help look after them

THE Duke of York and his ex-wife will look after the Queen’s beloved corgis.

Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York will take on Muick and Sandy, two dogs the late monarch received as gifts from her son, a spokesman for the duke said.

The pair, who divorced in 1996, still live together in the Royal Lodge, Windsor.

The Queen owned more than 30 corgis over her reign and was known for her love of the breed.

Early last year she was given two new puppies – a dorgi (a dachshund/corgi mix) and a corgi – as a gift by Andrew while staying at Windsor during lockdown. The Queen named the dorgi Fergus after her uncle who was killed in action during the First World War and the corgi Muick – pronounced Mick – after Loch Muick on the Balmoral estate.

But she was devastated when five-month-old Fergus died just weeks later, after her husband Prince Philip’s death.

Fergus was replaced with a new corgi puppy, named Sandy by the Queen, from Andrew and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie for her official 95th birthday. The puppies were a constant source of joy for the Queen during lockdown, her dresser Angela Kelly said.

Andrew, flanked by his daughters, thanked well-wishers for lining the route back to Balmoral after the Royal Family attended a prayer service on Saturday.

Miss Kelly said the Queen’s pets ‘always brought a smile to everyone’s faces’.

‘I was worried they would get under the Queen’s feet but they have turned out to be a godsend,’ she added. ‘They are beautiful and great fun.’

A source close to the duke said: ‘He loves his dogs and it was natural he should take them as he and his family gifted them to the Queen originally.

‘The duke walks at Frogmore all the time, which is where the Queen used to walk them. So I think it will help provide the corgis with some continuity and comfort.’

Most of the Queen’s corgis were descended from her first one, Susan, who was given to her as a gift on her 18th birthday in 1944.