By With the unfortunate death of Queen Elizabeth her two beloved corgis, Muick and Sandy have been sent to live with the Duke and Duchess of York. However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be barking at Buckingham Palace soon.
Now that Charles III has been coronated, two new new dogs have been officially coronated as Royal Dogs, as well.
Meet Beth and Bluebell, Charles and Camilla’s Jack Russell Terriers who will soon be in the spotlight as the Royal Canines of Great Britain.
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla are the proud parents of two Jack Russell terriers, Bluebell and Beth, 'with the dominant personality traits being their loyalty, generous spirit for helping others and their trustworthiness' pic.twitter.com/ZqYzjEu9FP
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) October 11, 2022
Beth and Bluebell are Jack Russell terriers Camilla adopted the dogs from the Battersea Dogs’ and Cats’ Home in London in February 2017, becoming part of the family ever since, according to reports.
In a past interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Camilla spoke of her love of dogs: “The nice thing about dogs is you can sit them down, you could have a nice long conversation, you could be cross, you could be sad, and they just sit looking at you, wagging their tail.”
The royal also spoke of meeting Beth and Bluebell at Battersea Dogs’ and Cats’ Home: “Along I went to Battersea, and Beth appeared, and she had just been moved from pillar to post and dumped,” she explained.
“We thought it would be nice for her to have a friend. They found [Bluebell] two or three weeks later, wandering about in woods, no hair on her, covered in sores, virtually dead. And they nursed her back to life and her hair grew again. She’s very sweet, but a tiny bit neurotic, shall we say.”
The Queen Consort also told BBC that the dogs adore children and are allowed “nearly everywhere”, except on the bed.
The Telegraph spoke to Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly star Graeme Hall about the the new breed that will be running around Buckingham Palace. He said “he has warmed to the breed he has been training over the years as they are affectionate, eager to learn and often very biddable dogs. ‘They’re lovely,’ he told me. ‘Jack Russells are working dogs essentially, and they want to be good at their job. They want to please. I usually only see the really naughty ones, but they are always very intelligent, which means that you can usually get a lot out of them.’
Graeme and I chatted about the enduring appeal of the breed, and why they are rarely out of the Kennel Club’s top 10 most popular dogs in Britain, despite them only being officially recognised by the organisation in 2016. There was a surge in interest after Boris and Carrie Johnson introduced Dilyn to Downing Street in 2019, so perhaps Bluebell and Beth will spark an even greater interest and appreciation of the breed? ‘They’re sort of an everyman dog,’ Graeme said.
‘They have the posh, shooting and hunting appeal, but are good down the pub, too. Wherever you go, a Jack Russell just sort of fits. They’re not ostentatious or flamboyant in any way. They are just a great, all-round dog.’
Penny Junor, author of All the Queen’s Corgis, agrees, and believes that their popularity will only soar, particularly as the King and the Queen Consort are so devoted to their two. ‘We’re at the start of a whole new reign,’ Penny says. ‘Not just of the two-legged variety, but of the four as well.’ Welcome to the new Jackobean age.”
Any cats playing on the Buckingham grounds might soon be out of luck.
[…] [Read More: Meet The New Royal Puppies of England] […]