The Corgi Crisis: How Prince Andrew Is 'Cancelling' Queen Elizabeth's Favorite Dog

Prince Andrew has become an awkward new figure in the long public story of the royal corgis, with the Daily Express reporting on March 14 that Queen Elizabeth II's surviving dogs, Muick and Sandy, are now in his care at Wood Farm in Norfolk and that some blame his association with them for damaging the breed's once gilded image. What was once one of the most recognisable symbols of the late queen's reign is now caught up in the kind of reputational mess that seems to follow Andrew everywhere.

The news came after years in which the corgi was treated almost as an extension of Elizabeth's public identity. According to the Daily Express, her affection for the breed began in childhood after she fell for a neighbour's corgi, and deepened when her father, then Duke of York, gave her and Princess Margaret a dog called Dookie.

From there, the attachment became part of royal folklore. During her 70-year reign, she is said to have owned at least 30 corgis, which were far from roughing it, sleeping in wicker baskets, receiving Christmas stockings and eating meals served on silver trays.

After the queen's death, the surviving pair, Sandy and Muick, were folded into another royal arrangement, this time far less romantic. They were taken in by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his former wife Sarah Ferguson, who had both been close to the late monarch's dogs. At the Queen's funeral on Sept. 19, 2022, the two animals stood as a small but unmistakably poignant reminder of what had been lost. Even in that solemn moment, the corgis still seemed to belong to Elizabeth more than to anyone remaining.

Andrew and the Queen's Dogs

That is precisely why their current living arrangements feel so fraught. The report states that Andrew has taken over care of the dogs at his temporary home at Wood Farm after he and Sarah Ferguson were evicted from Royal Lodge, and with Ferguson believed to be abroad and no longer living with him, he is thought to have sole responsibility.

Earlier this week, the corgis were reportedly photographed being walked by security staff rather than by Andrew himself. It is a small detail, but a telling one. These dogs once embodied continuity, comfort and a rather old fashioned sense of royal domesticity. Now they are being marched around by staff while their owner keeps out of sight.

There is an almost cruel symmetry to it. Andrew used to walk the wider canine pack himself when he was still living in Windsor, according to the report. That group included his own Norfolk terriers as well as the queen's corgis. Since relocating to a farmhouse on the edge of the Sandringham estate, however, he is said to have stopped taking them out and now relies on employees.

The image is unflattering. A man once photographed in every imaginable ceremonial setting is now, if the report is correct, largely absent even from the most ordinary chores of country life.

Not everyone is prepared to treat that as trivial. Beverley Cuddell, editor of Dogs Today for the past 30 years, put it in terms sharp enough to sting. 'It would seem everything Andrew touches ends in disaster,' she said, before adding that the corgi had gone from being 'pretty much the poshest dog in the world' to 'in effect being cancelled' since he became its guardian.

It is a cutting line, perhaps a bit theatrical, but it captures something real about the breed's changed aura. The corgi was once royal by association. Now it is saddled with a keeper whose own standing has long since collapsed.

A Breed Under Pressure

The article suggests the problem extends beyond Andrew's reputation. It also states that the Pembroke Welsh Corgi has appeared on a list of 67 dogs that may face restrictions under new health guidelines being considered by the all-party parliamentary group for animal welfare. The aim is to discourage physical traits thought to shorten dogs' lives. In the corgi's case, the concern centres on short legs, measured by a chest-to-ground gap of less than one third of shoulder height.

That may sound technical, but the argument behind it is familiar. Shorter legs, the proposed guidance states, can be linked to spinal deformities, joint pain, arthritis and limb abnormalities. Even so, certainty remains limited. Nothing has been confirmed, so the suggestion that corgis could be pushed towards some form of ban should be treated with caution until any formal policy is published.

There is already resistance from within the breed's own community. Margaret Hoggarth, secretary of the Welsh Corgi League, said the animals are 'very healthy' and argued that they are being 'lumped in' with unhealthy dogs simply because of their short legs. That objection matters because it shifts the debate away from palace symbolism and back to breeding practice, where it arguably belongs. A dog does not become unsound simply because a royal scandal has affected its image.

Still, perception often outruns fairness. Ferguson once called caring for Sandy and Muick a 'big honour' and described them as 'national treasures.' She has also said she feels the late Queen communicates with her through the dogs. In a 2023 appearance on ITV's This Morning, a pet psychic claimed the animals were grieving and suggested one had a slightly bloated stomach.