...and new dogs are helping to ease the pain too

THE Queen will use her new canine companions to help her cope with her grief, say friends.

The dog-loving Monarch, who was given her first corgi, Susan, as an 18th birthday present in 1944, had vowed not to get any more dogs after Vulcan, her dorgi – a dachshund-corgi cross – passed away last year. It left her with just a single elderly dorgi called Candy. But when Philip was hospitalised earlier this year, it emerged she had acquired two new four-legged friends, given names with a special meaning to the Queen.

Fergus, a dorgi, is named after her uncle Fergus Bowes-Lyon, who was killed in action during the First

World War. The second dog, Muick, pronounced ‘Mick’, is a pure-bred corgi and named after Loch Muick on the Balmoral estate, a favourite picnic spot for the Royals during their summer holiday.

The Queen has owned more than 30 dogs over the years. Her latest are believed to have been gifts.

A source said: ‘The Queen was left with only one dog at the end of last year. She had made the decision not to get any more because she didn’t think it fair at her age. But it would be unthinkable for her not to have any. It’s like the Tower of London not having any ravens. The new puppies are adorable.’

Her most famous dog is perhaps Monty, who appeared with his mistress and James Bond star Daniel Craig in a sketch for the

Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

When the news of the new dogs emerged, Royal biographer Penny Junor said: ‘Her corgis are hugely important to her.

‘They have over the years been closer to her than any human being. The corgis are intensely loyal and loving and they have never let her down.’