WEBVTT - How Did Queen Elizabeth II Fall in Love with Corgis?

0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:07.000
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain stuff, a production of I heart radio. Hey,

0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:12.360
<v Speaker 1>brain stuff, Lauren Volgabon here. Britain's longest serving monarch, Queen

0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:16.400
<v Speaker 1>Elizabeth the second, died September eight two at the age

0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.599
<v Speaker 1>of ninety six. The monarchy and its modern powers and

0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:24.680
<v Speaker 1>assets are twistingly complex and certainly worth a number of episodes,

0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.240
<v Speaker 1>but today let's talk about an element that served to

0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:33.600
<v Speaker 1>humanize the Queen, her love of Corgis. The Queen owned

0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:36.559
<v Speaker 1>pure bred corgies for more than eight decades and for

0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:39.320
<v Speaker 1>stretches in the nineteen eighties she collected packs of up

0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.000
<v Speaker 1>to thirteen at a time, most of them bred on

0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:46.640
<v Speaker 1>the premises at Windsor Castle. The small ruddy haired corgy

0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:50.320
<v Speaker 1>breed known as the Welsh pembroke are so closely associated

0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:52.800
<v Speaker 1>with the Queen that many people think it's an official

0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:56.640
<v Speaker 1>royal line that goes back centuries before the article. This

0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.480
<v Speaker 1>episode is based on how stuff work. Spoke Kierra Ferrell,

0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:02.880
<v Speaker 1>lie brarian and collections manager at the UK Kennel Club

0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:06.720
<v Speaker 1>back in twenty nineteen. She said that's a question we're

0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:10.040
<v Speaker 1>asked a lot. Is the Corgy of Royal Dog? Do

0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.920
<v Speaker 1>they have a long association with the Royal Family? The

0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:15.520
<v Speaker 1>answer is no. The Queen got one when she was

0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:18.119
<v Speaker 1>a young girl and has been devoted to them ever since.

0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:22.639
<v Speaker 1>The Queen's very first corgy was bought in nineteen thirty

0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.280
<v Speaker 1>three by her father, King George the six, when he

0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:28.960
<v Speaker 1>was still the Duke of York. Elizabeth, then seven years old,

0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:31.679
<v Speaker 1>and her younger sister, Margaret, started out calling the puppy

0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:35.600
<v Speaker 1>the duke and fell for him instantly. By the time

0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:39.080
<v Speaker 1>his nickname had been familiarized to Dukie, he was joined

0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:44.160
<v Speaker 1>by second Corgi, named Lady Jane. They were beloved pets,

0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:48.040
<v Speaker 1>but also a candy marketing tool. The Royal Family soon

0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:51.920
<v Speaker 1>capitalized on those first cuddly corgies to deflect attention from

0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:56.080
<v Speaker 1>a royal scandal. Photo Book titled Our Princesses and their

0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:59.280
<v Speaker 1>dogs was released on December eleven of nineteen thirty six,

0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.680
<v Speaker 1>just days before King Edward the eighth addicated the throne

0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:07.360
<v Speaker 1>to marry the American socialite and Divorcee Wallace Simpson. The

0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.679
<v Speaker 1>photo book assured British subjects that their new king, Elizabeth's,

0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:14.280
<v Speaker 1>father wasn't some loud like his brother from. After all,

0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:19.160
<v Speaker 1>he had these adorable daughters with dogs. Dukie and Jane

0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.760
<v Speaker 1>were the Princess's close companions growing up, though Jane was

0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:25.880
<v Speaker 1>tragically struck and killed by a car in nineteen forty four.

0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:30.360
<v Speaker 1>That same year, for Elizabeth's Eighteenth Birthday, she received the

0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:33.600
<v Speaker 1>dog that would turn out to launch her lifelong fascination

0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:37.720
<v Speaker 1>with not just corgis but corgy breeding. The dog's name

0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:41.680
<v Speaker 1>was Susan. Generations of the Queen's Corgis have come from

0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:46.919
<v Speaker 1>Susan's line, but the Queen often hand picking matches. Elizabeth

0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.240
<v Speaker 1>and Susan were inseparable from the start. When she married

0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:53.320
<v Speaker 1>Prince Philip in ninety seven, she snuck Susan with her

0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:56.880
<v Speaker 1>on their honeymoon, and Susan remained by Elizabeth's side when

0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.720
<v Speaker 1>her father died in nineteen fifty two, making Elizabeth the

0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:03.360
<v Speaker 1>Queen at the age of five. In press photos from

0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:05.800
<v Speaker 1>the nineteen fifties, the young Queen is shown with her

0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:11.160
<v Speaker 1>beloved Corgi almost more than her husband. Susan's prominence as

0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.840
<v Speaker 1>the Queen's corgy did wonders for the breed's popularity. The

0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:18.639
<v Speaker 1>Kettle Club registrations of pure bred Pembroke Welsh corgis peaked

0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:22.840
<v Speaker 1>in nineteen sixty with nine thousand a year. Farrell said,

0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:25.720
<v Speaker 1>it did spark a huge interest in what up to

0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:29.480
<v Speaker 1>then had been a niche breed. Today, Corgi registrations are

0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:31.959
<v Speaker 1>down to about five hundred a year. That's a big

0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:36.320
<v Speaker 1>drop from its heyday. Corgis are known for being lively,

0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:40.200
<v Speaker 1>hardy and highly intelligent. They were originally bred and whales

0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.360
<v Speaker 1>as cattle dogs, where they're compact load of the ground

0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.320
<v Speaker 1>build enabled them to Nipet the cattle's heels to keep

0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:50.080
<v Speaker 1>them in line. The corgis loud sharp bark also helps

0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.680
<v Speaker 1>it seem bigger and more authoritative than it appears. There

0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.720
<v Speaker 1>are two breeds of dogs called Corgis, the pembroke and

0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.800
<v Speaker 1>the Cardigan. The CARDIGAN is larger and longer than the PEMBROKE,

0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:04.200
<v Speaker 1>with more rounded ears. Of both breeds usually live around

0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:09.800
<v Speaker 1>twelve years. Of course, not everybody is keen on small,

0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:12.800
<v Speaker 1>energetic dogs with Yippy barks that nip at your heels,

0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:16.039
<v Speaker 1>and that's why when somebody comes into the Kennel Club

0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:18.720
<v Speaker 1>looking for a new pet, Farrell advises them to do

0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:21.400
<v Speaker 1>some research about what a breed of dog did historically.

0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:25.440
<v Speaker 1>She said. What was their job? Are Those traits going

0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.039
<v Speaker 1>to suit your lifestyle? Can you give them the exercise

0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:30.480
<v Speaker 1>that they need and the space that they need? If

0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:32.360
<v Speaker 1>it's not the dog for you, there's lots of other

0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:36.159
<v Speaker 1>dogs to choose from. The Queen didn't mind the rowdy

0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:39.599
<v Speaker 1>energy of her corgies. In fact, she bread fruits specifically,

0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.640
<v Speaker 1>along with the preference for Red Coats. Her cousin lady

0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:46.640
<v Speaker 1>Margaret Rhodes, told Vanity Fair for a long feature on

0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:50.600
<v Speaker 1>this subject back that the Queen loved taking her roll

0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.880
<v Speaker 1>king pack of Corgies for long walks in the Scottish countryside.

0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.600
<v Speaker 1>While the rest of the Royal Family are certainly doggy

0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:02.080
<v Speaker 1>by nature, that's earl's term, not mine. They weren't all

0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:05.919
<v Speaker 1>huge fans of the Queen's corgis. Prince Harry told the

0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:10.040
<v Speaker 1>BBC in I've spent the last thirty three years being

0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.440
<v Speaker 1>barked at. His older brother Williams, said as much in

0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:16.919
<v Speaker 1>a twelve interview quote. They're barking all the time. I

0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.240
<v Speaker 1>don't know how she copes with it. The breed's Bark

0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.920
<v Speaker 1>nous and its association with a now bygone era likely

0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.599
<v Speaker 1>contributed to the steep drop in the corgis popularity over time.

0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:31.960
<v Speaker 1>In the situation became dire enough that the Kennel club

0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.320
<v Speaker 1>put the pembroke Welsh corgy on its vulnerable native breeds list,

0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:38.400
<v Speaker 1>which calls attention to breeds with fewer than three hundred

0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:43.320
<v Speaker 1>registrations a year. But then Netflix released its hit TV

0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:47.520
<v Speaker 1>series the crown, in which dramatizes the life of young

0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:51.120
<v Speaker 1>Elizabeth as she marries and becomes the Queen, including lots

0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:54.320
<v Speaker 1>of scenes with her corgis. That Farrell noted that corgy

0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:59.160
<v Speaker 1>registrations increased by six in seventeen and then jumped by

0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:05.560
<v Speaker 1>in she said, while the numbers are still relatively low,

0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:09.080
<v Speaker 1>there's been a clear increase in registrations and I think

0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.159
<v Speaker 1>we can attribute that to the depiction of the Queen

0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:15.680
<v Speaker 1>and her Corgis in popular culture. In the United States.

0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:18.919
<v Speaker 1>The breed continues to be very popular. The American Kennel

0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:22.120
<v Speaker 1>Club currently ranks the pembroke Welsh Corgi at number thirteen

0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:24.400
<v Speaker 1>out of a hundred and ninety three breeds in terms

0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:29.599
<v Speaker 1>of popularity. In two thousand two the queen made the

0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.880
<v Speaker 1>difficult decision, following the deaths of both her sister and

0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:36.120
<v Speaker 1>the Queen Mum, that she would stop breeding Corgis so

0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.320
<v Speaker 1>that none of them would outlive her and be forced

0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:42.200
<v Speaker 1>to grieve her loss. Farrell explained that a lot of

0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:44.839
<v Speaker 1>older pet owners are forced to make the same difficult

0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:48.200
<v Speaker 1>choice not to take in a young dog. For working

0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.680
<v Speaker 1>dogs that are bred to have a close relationship with

0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:54.239
<v Speaker 1>a particular shepherd, the separation can be hard on the animal.

0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:58.680
<v Speaker 1>Farrell said, Corgis like their person and the Queen is

0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:04.680
<v Speaker 1>their person. However, after the death of her husband, Prince

0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:08.000
<v Speaker 1>Philip Her son, Prince Andrew Gifted Elizabeth with a new

0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.520
<v Speaker 1>corgy to keep her other corgy company. She also had

0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:13.880
<v Speaker 1>a Dorgy, a cross between a Corgi and a Docksin,

0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:18.600
<v Speaker 1>and a Cocker Spaniel. At the time, one monty Roberts,

0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.120
<v Speaker 1>who served as a horse and dog breeding adviser to

0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:24.680
<v Speaker 1>the Queen, told Vanity Fair how devastated the Queen was

0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:29.520
<v Speaker 1>after a previous Corgy, Monty, died in at the time

0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:32.800
<v Speaker 1>he asked the Queen about breeding a replacement for Monty.

0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:35.840
<v Speaker 1>Robert said to Vanity Fair I have no right to

0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:38.360
<v Speaker 1>try to force her into continuing to bring on young

0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:41.280
<v Speaker 1>puppies if she doesn't want to. That isn't my right.

0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.640
<v Speaker 1>But it still concerns me because I want her to

0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:48.160
<v Speaker 1>believe in her existence until she's no longer here, because

0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.480
<v Speaker 1>she's just too important to the world to contemplate checking out.

0:07:52.040 --> 0:08:00.280
<v Speaker 1>For me, the Queen can't die. Today's episod out is

0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:02.720
<v Speaker 1>based on the article how Queen Elizabeth fell in love

0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.920
<v Speaker 1>with corgies on how stuff works dot com, written by

0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:07.640
<v Speaker 1>Dave roose. Brain stuff is production of I heart radio

0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:09.600
<v Speaker 1>in partnership with how stuff works dot com, and it's

0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:13.000
<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts my heart radio.

0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:15.840
<v Speaker 1>visit the I heart radio APP, apple podcasts or wherever

0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:17.320
<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.