The Queen’s real canine favourite
Labrador lover Ben Fogle reveals why the breed will be the perfect companion for Harry and Meghan
According to reports, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a new dog – a Labrador. It’s a fine choice. I, myself, am an unashamed Labradorphile. I have had three of them and love the breed so much, I wrote a book about it.
For years it was the most popular dog in the UK, with an estimated half a million in British homes, and it was only recently that, according to the Kennel Club, the Labrador was usurped in popularity by the French bulldog. This won’t last long: the Labrador is the ultimate all-rounder. Kind, loyal, dependable, biddable and faithful, it will be back at the heart of the nation’s affections when fashions wane.
With their choice of dog, the Duke and Duchess have joined a long line of celebrity owners that includes Jennifer Garner, Emily Blunt, Sylvester Stallone and Kevin Costner, to name just a few; writers Ernest Hemingway and Roald Dahl both had Labradors.
As well as being a Hollywood staple, the Labrador also has a long political heritage, favoured in Washington by the likes of Bill Clinton and Henry Kissinger, as well as French leaders such as François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. When Buddy, Clinton’s Labrador, arrived at the White House – where he was known as the First Dog
– Clinton’s spokesman explained that “it is the President’s desire to have one loyal friend in Washington”.
Prince Harry’s own grandmother may be best known for her corgis, but it is the Labrador that is her real love. Corgis are the dogs she has been happiest to show off, but she has also had a lifelong affection for Labradors, and has owned up to 20 of them. But they are one part of her life that she has preferred to keep private.
I think we choose our dogs to reflect our own personalities, and by picking a Labrador, the Sussexes are gaining a solid, outgoing, dependable dog. Always happy, tail wagging, they are bringing a dependable, trustworthy companion into their small, closed,
Vladimir Putin had a beloved black Lab that he used to terrify Angela Merkel
private world.
A Labrador is a fine travelling companion, and while it might be a little much to expect it to accompany them on state visits, it will be quite happy commuting between the palaces of Balmoral in Scotland and Sandringham in Norfolk. Always happy and easy going, the Labrador will integrate effortlessly with the cast of other royal dogs during formal gatherings, where it will have to mix with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s cocker spaniel, Princess Anne’s bull terrier and the Duchess of Cornwall’s Jack Russell.
In any event, the Sussexes’ Labrador will likely prove to be the peace-keeper. Should the couple ever be asked to meet Vladimir Putin, they will be able to bond over their mutual love of Labs: the Russian president had a beloved black Lab called Koni that in 2016 he used, in a remarkable power play, to terrify Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, who has a fear of canines.
Originally fishing dogs, the Labrador’s forebears came not from the northern region of Canada with which they share a name, but from Newfoundland, whose Grand Banks were worked by Portuguese cod trawlers. The Labrador was the ship’s assistant that would leap into the icy Atlantic Ocean to retrieve pots, lines and nets. It still seems amazing to me that some of the world’s most prolific swimming dogs came from some of the world’s coldest waters. But then, maybe that was the point. The people had to find an alternative to getting in the water themselves.
Eager to please and eminently trainable, loyal and lovable, playful and energetic, the Labrador quickly proved itself a valued working dog and, more gradually, a treasured pet to millions. A symbol of social status to some, they are also the most versatile of breeds, acting as guide dogs, hearing dogs, police dogs, bomb dogs, drugs sniffer dogs, war dogs, search and rescue dogs, and medical detection dogs. There are few canine roles that a Labrador cannot fulfil.
But, of course, their finest role is as a family pet. Trustworthy, they are the perfect breed around children. I trust our Labradors implicitly with mine, as will Harry and Meghan once they have a family of their own.
I think a dog is a metaphor for how each of us would like to be perceived. In the Labrador, the Sussexes have chosen a strong, dependable, Everyman breed. They aren’t trying to be alternative or on-trend – they didn’t join their friend Barack Obama and get a Labradoodle. Instead, they have gone for solidity over fashion. A Labrador is a metaphor for their public role: trustworthy, relaxed, honest and consistent.