It’s no secret The Queen considers her beloved
corgis part of the royal household and has been the monarch’s most loyal
companion ever since she was a little girl. But life as a royal pup is far
more luxurious than you might imagine!
Not only do the pampered pets have their own exclusive
menu, Prince William, Prince Harry and other royals have been
known to provide their four-legged friends with freshly-hunted food. Certainly,
no dry kibble for these cared-for canines!
The Queen, who has famously called her
corgis “her family”, makes sure her trusty companions are
treated as true members of the royal clan. So what exactly do the most
pampered pooches in Britain dine on? We spoke to former royal chef Darren
McGrady, who spent 11 years working for the Queen, about the royal corgis’ very
strict diet – and their “yappy” nature.
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Darren McGrady shared the dogs’ royal menu
“When I worked at the palace, we actually had a royal
menu for the dogs,” Darren said: “It would be chosen and sent to us
in the kitchen every month by Mrs Fennick, who took care of all the dogs at
Sandringham. It would list each day what the dogs were to have. One day it
would be beef, the next day chicken, the next day lamb, and the next day rabbit and
it alternated through those days.
“The beef would come in, we would cook it, dice it
into really fine pieces and then we did the same with the chicken. We’d poach them,
and again chop them really, really small to make sure there were no bones so
the dogs wouldn’t choke.”
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Darren said: “One day it would be beef, the next day chicken, the next day lamb
“Prince William and Prince Harry used to shoot rabbits on
the Windsor Estate, so we’d get the rabbits, they’d have to be cleaned and then
cooked,” he said. “Some days some of the dogs were – shall we say for
a better word – a little bunged-up so we’d have to add cabbage on the menu, and
then other days we’d actually put rice in there for the other way. It really
was a case of following the menu.”
The dogs’ feeding routine was just as strict, said
Darren. “Every day the Queen’s footman would come down to the kitchen
at around two or three in the afternoon, and take the dog food upstairs to feed
the royal corgis. They each had their own bowls,” said the chef. “The
Queen would feed them herself, I think after she’d had her tea.”
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The Queen would feed the corgis herself
It’s no secret that the 94-year-old monarch truly loves her
corgis. She was given her first corgi Susan when she was 18 and even took the
little pooch on her honeymoon with Prince Philip. She also grew up surrounded
by corgis as a young girl.
Sadly, her beloved pet Holly – a descendent of
Susan – passed away in 2016, followed by Willow in 2018, leaving the
Queen with two dorgis (a dachshund/ corgi crossbreed), Candy and
Vulcan. She also has an adopted corgi called Whisper, who she took in
after the death of his owner, former Sandringham games’ keeper Bill Fenwick, in
January 2017.
“It is sad about Holly, and it’s also quite sad that
the Queen has said she’s not going to replace them,” said Darren.
“For years while I was there, one would die and she’d get another one. She
always had about 12 but now she’s saying I’m not going to outlive them, so when
they die they’re just going to die off.”
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She always had about 12
The Queen is never far from her corgis. In 2016, they were pictured in Her Majesty’s official 90th birthday portraits and also
famously starred in the 2012 James Bond London Olympics sketch.
They may look sweet from afar, but Darren admitted: “The
chefs didn’t like the corgis! They’re yappy, little yappy nasty dogs. They’re
pack dogs so they’d always fight with the Queen Mother’s dogs or Princess
Anne’s dogs.
“Places like Sandringham, the dogs would come into the
kitchen. You’d often think, ‘Come on get out of the way, otherwise, I’ll put you
in the oven!’ Haha.
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The dogs travelled wherever the Queen went
“The worst time was whenever we flew to Balmoral, flew
up to Aberdeen. We’d all have to be in our suits because we were travelling
with the Queen and she’d take the dogs up and the dogs would lay by your feet
and you’d get dog hairs everywhere. You’d try and push them away without them
yelping at you.”
Darren did have a soft spot for Chipper though, a dorgi.
“He was my favourite, so when we were at Sandringham I’d always give him
titbits in the kitchen,” he said.
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Her Majesty grew up surrounded by corgis
“Chipper was a dorgi, he had a great personality. I
think the daschund cross seems to calm them down a bit and makes them nicer,
sweeter. I liked Myth and Piper too, she was a dorgi, a long-haired one. But
the others I didn’t remember them all. Honestly, they all look the same to
me!”
The royal chef added: “We liked the hunting dogs.
Prince William’s dog Widgeon, a black Labrador, he was sweet. He was a working
dog. They were looked after by the gamekeeper so we didn’t cook for them.”
