To Brighten Up Even Your Darkest Nights Quiz

Answer: Dog

Susan was a corgi, a two-month old puppy given to then Princess Elizabeth for her eighteenth birthday by her father in 1944. She became The Queen's constant companion, and was even taken along on her honeymoon and world tours.

Susan died in 1959, and was buried in a pet cemetery that had been established by Queen Victoria at Sandringham House. Elizabeth II had approximately 30 dogs descended from Susan.

Just how much did the royal dogs brighten The Queen's nights? One source says that even though they had their own room at Buckingham Palace - the corgi room - that most of the time they slept in The Queen's apartment!

Answer: Dog

Dookie is commonly cited as being Princess Elizabeth's first Pembroke Welsh Corgi, purchased by her father, who later became King George VI, in 1933. The story is that his daughters had become enamored with corgis while visiting friends.

Originally named Rozavel Golden Eagle, Dookie apparently seemed a bit uppity after being chosen as the royal family's pet. Someone in the kennel started calling him "the Duke", which eventually became Dookie, according to one story. Another story is that Dookie was named when the kennel learned that he had been chosen by the family of the Duke of York. The Queen Mother liked the puppy best, because his tail was longer, and she wanted to be able to tell that the dog was happy to see them! Dookie was loved and spoiled by Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret, who fed him by hand.

During the abdication crises of 1936, a book called "Our Princesses and Their Dogs" was published to help humanize the York family during what was considered to be a public relations nightmare. It contained pictures of the new royal family with their pets.

Answer: Dog

Candy, The Queen's last dorgi, died in the summer of 2022 after The Queen arrived at Balmoral for her summer holiday. Candy had appeared along with other dogs in her official ninetieth birthday portrait.

Dorgis are a hybred dog, a cross between Welsh Corgis and Dachshunds. The breed had its beginning when one of Princess Margaret's dachshunds, Pipkin, found that Tiny, one of The Queen's corgis, had been left unattended, resulting in the birth of two dorgi puppies named Pickles and Tinker.

The sisters were reportedly enchanted by the new puppies, and continued to breed dorgis, usually with different results. Sometimes the dogs would have corgi ears, pointed and straight, and sometimes they would have longer dachshund ears that would hang down. Overall, dorgis were smaller and had longer tails.

It has been written that The Queen occasionally used the excuse of needing to take her dogs for a walk as a reason to remove herself from a difficult situation. Prince Philip and the family called this the "dog mechanism".

Answer: Dog

Willow, who died in 2018, was the last corgi descended from The Queen's beloved Susan. By that time she had already quit breeding dogs, a program with which she had been actively involved until approximately 2015. She was worried about leaving young dogs behind and also, with her much-discussed mobility problems, there was concern about being accidentally tripped by one of them.

The Queen never sold her dogs or had them compete in shows; they weren't always registered either. Puppies were given to friends or family members or kept in her care. Back in the 1980s it was said that she had 13 corgis all at the same time! She called all her dogs "the girls" and "the boys"!

Answer: Dog

The Queen was also known to adopt dogs and bring them into her family. On the morning that her mother died, Elizabeth II brought the Queen Mother's dogs to live with her; Monty was one of those dogs.

Named after Monty Roberts, Monty was reportedly the star of the James Bond sketch that Queen Elizabeth II performed with Daniel Craig for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics held in London. Performing with Willow and Holly, Monty rolled around and ran down the steps, and watched as the "Queen" and Craig left in a helicopter. Monty sadly died a few months after the performance.

There are stories that The Queen frequently used her dogs to help others too. If she had a visitor who was a bit uncomfortable for some reason, or if she herself felt a bit shy, she would call in the crew, open a package of dog biscuits, and let the dogs break the ice. Although she loved her horses, Elizabeth II knew that dogs were more of an equalizer in certain situations.

Answer: Horse

Princess Elizabeth reportedly began taking riding lessons when she was three years old. A Shetland pony named Peggy was a gift from her grandfather, George V, when she was just four years old.

One of Elizabeth II's hobbies was horse breeding, and she was a patron of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association. It is said that she spent numerous hours both planning breeding programs with her bloodstock and racing advisor. Initially this must have reminded her of her father, as she inherited his horses in 1952.

Answer: Horse

Burmese was a black Police Service Horse that was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Remount Ranch. She was already trained when gifted to The Queen in 1969, who immediately asked that the horse participate in the Royal Windsor Horse Show and carry her standard so that she could better watch her movements. Needless to say, it was love at first sight!

Burmese was The Queen's mount for Trooping the Color from 1969 to 1986; it was in 1981 when the horse famously remained calm after blanks had been fired during the parade. In 1986 Burmese was retired. After that The Queen choose to ride in a carriage for the parade.

The savvy Queen didn't just use her dogs to serve as buffers in certain situations. Remember the famous picture of her horseback riding with then U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1982? Her mount at the time was Burmese! Some sources hint that The Queen's remarkable riding skill may have been what convinced President Reagan to back the UK during the Falklands War that year.

Answer: Horse

Who could ever forget Emma's touching appearance during Queen Elizabeth II's funeral procession? Carltonlima Emma is a fell pony who came from a stud farm in Cumbria that allows its herd to live on the fell (moorland) in a semi-feral situation. Fell ponies are known for their intelligence, stamina, and strength. The Queen purchased Emma in 2004.

In 2021 it seemed that she might have too many mobility issues to ride, and The Queen wasn't seen on a horse for several months. Then, again, in June 2022 it was reported that she had been able to ride again. And she was pictured riding Emma, who is said to have enjoyed eating a carrot out of a bag at the end of a ride! The Queen's former Head Groom has said that she rode Emma on July 18, 2022, before leaving for her Balmoral estate.

Answer: Horse

Sanction was said to have been so in tune with Queen Elizabeth II's thoughts that he knew what The Queen wanted to do or go before any kind of signal was given. He was The Queen's last home bred mount; as she got older there was a lot of concern about her safety when riding. The Queen wisely began to ride smaller ponies as there wasn't quite as far to fall when riding them.

"Horse & Hound" magazine ran an article in June 11, 2020, that told about The Queen's favorite horses. A picture of her riding Sanction was featured on the cover.

Answer: Horse

The Queen's family was historically crazy about horses, so keeping them had to have reminded her of her father. Aureole was bred by George VI, and Elizabeth II inherited the horse in 1952 when her father passed away. He ran fourteen times, and won eleven races, including the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Ascot. The Queen considered him to be her first high class racehorse. She was rated the leading owner in Britain in 1954 due to Aureole's winnings during his four year old season.

Interestingly, King Charles III had a similar experience during Royal Ascot 2023 when a horse who had been bred by his mother, Desert Hero, won the King George V Stakes.