Rutaksha Rawat is an Indian journalist with years of experience in the Indian publishing industry. An alumni of Welham Girls’ School, she is currently serving as editor at Benefit Publishing Pvt Ltd, a firm that produces its own publications and also undertakes contract publishing (hard copy or e-version) of magazines, brochures, info booklets, newsletters, and coffee table books for businesses, international & domestic government bodies, and individuals.

2. WELSH CORGI-The Queen's Favourite
written By Rutaksha Rawat

3.  June marked the British Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, as the monarch
completed 60 years of reign. As the Diamond Jubilee celebration
kicked off by London’s river Thames, the ‘Jubilee fever’ also hit the
British souvenir market. As in the case of the royal wedding, when
Duchess Kate’s royal blue engagement dress and Prince William’s
smile were immortalised in tea bags, lingerie collections, mugs and
plates as the couple’s trademark features, Queen Elizabeth II, too,
was commemorated with her patent crown and her favourite dog —
the Corgi, distinctly marking the breed as a royal favourite.

4. The Queen and her Corgis
 Although it is no secret that the British royals have long favoured the
Corgi, the diamond jubilee celebrations have once again brought the
breed to prominence, with souvenir makers putting the breed on
several souvenir items alongside the queen — from knitted hats
depicting the monarch standing next to a Corgi dog to paintings,
mugs, key chains, cutlery, calendars, etc, with similar themes.

5.  The queen's love affair with the breed began when she received her first
Corgi, Susan, on her 18th birthday. Her Majesty now owns three Welsh
Pembrokes – Monty, Willow and Holly – who are all descendants of
Susan. “Her Majesty is the only Pembroke Corgi Breeder to line breed
back to her foundation bitch,” says Diana King, chairman, Welsh Corgi
League, UK.

6.  Royal aides say that the pet Corgis travel with the queen to her various
residences and she looks after them herself as much as possible, given
her busy schedule. If they go in a plane, the dogs have to be carried up
the steps by the queen’s footmen. When she lives at Buckingham
Palace, the dogs sleep in raised wicker baskets in a special boot room
near the royal apartments, where they wander freely. During dress
fittings the queen carries a special magnet to pick up fallen pins to save
the Corgis from getting pricked. The daily menu for the royal pets is
typed and tacked in the kitchen and their diet includes steak, poached
chicken, liver and rabbit meat. The royal chefs also bake buttered
scones to serve the queen at tea, most of which she offers to the dogs.
Nobody is allowed to discipline the dogs except the queen herself. It
must be noted that there are two varieties of Welsh Corgis and the one
the Queen has are Pembroke.

7. About the Breed
 The Welsh Corgi is a small type of herding dog that originated in
Wales. Two distinct Welsh Corgi breeds are recognised: the
Pembroke Welsh Corgi and the Cardigan Welsh Corgi, with the
Pembroke being the more common and popular.