Queen Elizabeth had a lifelong love of corgis — what happens to them now?

The monarch still had four dogs, Candy, Lissy, Muick and Sandy, when she died

Queen Elizabeth and her beloved corgi Susan in 1950. PA

Susan was known to always be close to the queen's side. AFP

The queen and her two children Charles, right, and Anne, left, alongside their pet corgi in Balmoral in 1954. AFP

Prince Andrew attempting to help a reluctant corgi to leave the train at Liverpool Street Station, London, in 1966. AFP

The queen and one of her corgis. AFP

She took a trio of her dogs to Liverpool Street Station in 1971. AFP

The queen and her corgis at Virginia Water, where competitors, including Prince Philip, completed the Marathon of the European Driving Championship in 1973. PA

The queen and the Duke of Edinburgh during their traditional summer break at Balmoral Castle in 1976 — with their family pet. PA

During famous scenes from the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, the queen was filmed walking alongside James Bond in Buckingham Palace — with a corgi following closely. AFP

The queen leaving Buckingham Palace with her 'dorgi', a corgi-dachshund cross, called Candy in 2020. PA

The queen was joined by Candy as she looked at a display of memorabilia from her golden and platinum jubilees in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle in June. PA

The death of Queen Elizabeth II has sparked a huge shift for the British royal family. With a new king, Charles III, and several new titles for other family members, including Prince William and his wife Kate who become the Prince and Princess of Wales, there will be plenty of internal movement as the family prepares for life without its longstanding matriarch.

And, the queen’s death will also mean a shift for the family’s furry members. She was known for her lifelong love of dogs — and in particular corgis — and had four in her care at the time of her death.

Buckingham Palace is yet to confirm what will happen to her two corgis, corgi-dachshund cross (known as a dorgi) and cocker spaniel, named Candy, Lissy, Muick and Sandy, but it’s safe to expect they will be rehomed within the extended family or by royal household staff.

However, the king is said to prefer Jack Russell terriers, while William and Kate are already parents to a black cocker spaniel named Orla, so they may not stay with the families of either heirs.

During her life, the queen had more than 30 dogs — many of them corgis. And, while corgis have become closely associated with the royal family as a result, they are not traditional royal pets. In fact, it was a young Elizabeth, along with her sister Margaret, who sparked the association, after they were gifted a puppy named Dookie by King George VI in 1933. Sadly, the queen’s second corgi, Jane, was hit by a car in 1944.

Perhaps her most famous and beloved pet, however, was the corgi given to her on her 18th birthday — a two-month-old puppy named Susan.

Susan features in many early pictures with Elizabeth when she was a young woman, and was the pet by her side when she married Prince Philip, and during the death of her father and her accession to queen. So beloved was Susan, that the queen bred corgis from her lineage for decades.

The queen also owned gun dogs, labradors and cocker spaniels, with the pets living at Sandringham in Norfolk. She was known to enjoy talking them for walks and continued to do so well into her nineties.

21 photos of royal families from around the world with their pet pooches