Royal Pets Answers

In this quiz, royal expert Christina Croft D.C.R.E. challenged your knowledge of royal pets.

1. How did a fox terrier named Caesar rise to fame in 1910?
Edward VII’s dog, Caesar, walked behind the coffin in his funeral procession. Following the king’s death, the dog was inconsolable and spent many days searching for him throughout Buckingham Palace. See Caesar in this 2010 Daily Mail article about him.

2. Queen Elizabeth II is known for her love of corgis but what was the name of her first one?
Dookie – named as a joke, since this was Wallis Simpson's pet name for the Duke of Windsor. See Dookie in this 2007 Telegraph article about him.

3. One of King George V’s favourite hobbies was shooting birds and yet one of his most faithful companions was a parrot. What was her name?
Charlotte – a pink parrot given to him by his sister, Victoria. George V was so devoted to Charlotte that she ate breakfast with him and sat on his desk as he worked through official business.

The ill-fated Grand Duchesses Tatiana
and Anastasia with their dog Ortino,
who escaped the family's fate.

4. Dogs are renowned for being faithful to those who love them. Geddon and Joy are two royal dogs who even accompanied their owners to their executions. Who were those royalties?
Geddon was Mary, Queen of Scots’ little dog, who hid under her skirts during her execution and later, having refused to eat, appeared to die of grief. Joy belonged to Tsarevich Alexei of Russia and went with the Imperial Family to Ekaterinburg. Following the murder of the family, the dog was found wandering alone and half-starved. Happily he was rescued and taken to England where he lived out the rest of his life peacefully.

Prince Albert with his dog, Eos,
and his oldest daughter.

5. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were extremely attached to their dogs and were both opposed to any form of cruelty to animals. Prince Albert’s dog, Eos, and later, Queen Victoria’s dog, Noble, are seen on several painting and mentioned in letters. What breeds of dog were they?
Eos was a greyhound. There is even a statue of him at Osborne House. Read more. Noble was a collie.

BONUS QUESTION #1

Queen Victoria, when presented with an ostrich egg, asked indignantly why her own ostrich at Windsor had not yet laid any eggs. What reason was she given in reply?
“Yours is a male, ma’am.”

BONUS QUESTION #2

Which royal lady was in the news this summer for adopting her latest pet from a shelter?
In summer 2011, The Duchess of Cornwall made news when she adopted a rescued Jack Russell terrier named Beth, who joined two other Jack Russells already in the family. Read the news story and see Beth.