Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends the traditional Easter Sunday Mattins Service

The corgis were passed on to Andrew, and his former wife, Sarah, as their daughters had presented the Queen with the pets to help her through a difficult time

Inheriting the late Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved corgis was no small task for her son, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. The pets came with a long list of strict instructions, especially when it came to feeding time. At the time of her death, the Queen owned two corgis, Muick and Sandy, who went to live with Andrew at his former home, Royal Lodge, on the Windsor Estate. Now, as Andrew prepares to move out of the royal residence, the corgis will also be getting a new home as Buckingham Palace confirmed the palace pets – and their lavish diets – will be staying in the family.

As well as plenty of tender love and care, wherever they are living, the royal pooches receive a dinner plate packed full of only the best ingredients prepared by a chef. Raised on an indulgent and fresh diet of beef, corn-fed chicken, lamb and rabbit, the canines’ food was prepared especially each day by the late Queen’s cavalry of royal chefs. One of whom, Darren McGrady, revealed that the dogs even have their own menus which were “chosen and sent to the kitchen every month by Mrs Fenncick, who took care of all the dogs at Sandringham”.

Darren previously shared with HELLO!: “The beef would come in, we would cook it, dice it into really fine pieces and then we did the same with the chicken. We’d poach them, and again chop them really, really small to make sure there were no bones so the dogs wouldn’t choke.” He continued: “Some days some of the dogs were – shall we say for a better word – a little bunged-up, so we’d have to add cabbage on the menu, and then other days we’d actually put rice in there for the other way.”

Andrew, 65, and Sarah, 66, were the obvious choice to take ownership of the pets after the Queen’s death, as it was their two daughters who gifted their grandmother with Muick and Sandy. Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35, bought the two pups for the Queen to distract her from the stress of her husband Prince Philip’s hospital stay in 2021.

Members of the Royal Household stand with the Queen's royal Corgis, Muick and Sandy© Getty Images
The late Queen’s royal Corgis, Muick and Sandy, were a gift from her granddaughters

Despite their divorce in 1996, at the time of the Queen’s death in 2022, Andrew and Sarah still lived together in the Grade II-listed residence in Windsor. The estate was deemed the perfect new pad for the dogs with its 21 acres of secluded gardens and access to the wider Windsor Great Park, which covers 4,800 acres.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York with their children, Princess Beatrice of York (pink dress) and Princess Eugenie of York© Getty Images
The two dogs were inherited by Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah who lived together at Royal Lodge at the time of the Queen’s death

How many corgis did the Queen own during her reign?

Queen Elizabeth II smiles radiantly during a picture-taking session in the salon at Sandringham© Bettmann Archive
The Queen was well known for her love of corgis

Queen Elizabeth shared her love of dogs with the world throughout her time on the throne, and she became especially known for her affiliation with the corgi breed. She ascended the throne in 1952 and has owned more than 30 corgis in her lifetime. At any given point, she had up to ten, and as well as Muick and Sandy at the time of her death, it is thought she also had one Dorgi (a dachshund/corgi crossbreed), named Candy.