It has been nearly one month since the queen’s corgis were last seen in public, watching from the Long Walk as their late caretaker’s hearse entered the grounds of Windsor Castle. Shortly before that guest appearance, Prince William reassured mourners in the Queue that he had personally seen the dogs and that they were doing “fine,” which isn’t all that reassuring, particularly given the reports about who’d inherited them: Prince Andrew, accused rapist, famed blowhard, and his mother’s favourite. Not the outcome avid corgi lovers may have hoped for, and so maybe you, as one of those avid corgi lovers, have been wondering what happened to Sandy and Muick. Are they doing okay? Do they know what’s happening? Where are they now?
Per Sarah Ferguson’s Instagram account, safely resettled at the Royal Lodge. Ferguson, who used to be married to Andrew and now lives with him as a sort of roommate-slash-life-partner, did a corgi-based photo dump on Saturday, confirming that the little lads — “the presents that keep on giving,” per the Duchess of York — are alive. But are they well?
I will let you be the judge of that.
To me, the royal sausages are looking pretty regular, enjoying their daily waddle on the grass and collecting their pets. Further evidence from Fergie:
Earlier this month, Ferguson — in her capacity as romance novelist — spoke to the Telegraph at the Henley Literary Festival about her role as corgi custodian, which she called “a big honor.” The dogs are “national treasures,” she said, had “been taught well,” and are mingling with her five Norfolk terriers: “They all balance out; the carpet moves as I move, but I’ve got used to it now,” Ferguson added. Apparently she and her mother-in-law grew closer toward the end the queen’s life, taking their dog packs out on regular walks together, so I guess Her Maj must have gotten over that toe-sucking scandal. Also, Fergie reportedly picked out Sandy and Muick as puppies, and when Andrew gave them to the queen in 2021, she only accepted them on the condition that the quasi-couple would reclaim the corgis at her passing.
Though the Duke of York, stripped of his HRH title along with his royal duties, probably does have a lot of free time in which to care for pets, it sounds like that task has largely fallen to Ferguson. Personally I think that is for the best. Maybe Andrew can have the 1,000-plus Paddington Bears left outside Buckingham Palace in the queen’s memory? Maybe he would like to add those to his spooky teddy collection? Ah, no, sorry; that haul has been donated to a children’s charity. Oh well.