Queen Elizabeth’s Last Windsor Castle Corgi Has Reportedly Died

We’re so sorry to hear this, Queen Elizabeth. The 92-year-old monarch is sadly mourning the loss of her last Windsor Castle Corgi, Whisper, according to the Daily Mail. A source told the entertainment news outlet that a vet was recently called to Windsor Castle after 12-year-old Whisper fell ill and the pup later passed away about a week ago at the Queen’s residence in the English countryside.

Though the cause of Whisper’s death is not publicly known, several of Queen Elizabeth’s beloved Corgis have reportedly passed away from cancer-related illnesses in the past. The Queen adopted Whisper in 2016 after the dog’s owner, Bill Fenwick — who worked as a gamekeeper at the royal family’s Sandringham Estate — died.

Since Bill’s wife, Nancy Fenwick, was lovingly known as the “keeper of the Queen’s Corgis” when the monarch traveled, Elizabeth allegedly felt she was returning a favor when she took in Whisper as a new pet two years ago. “Whisper was a friendly chap and followed her everywhere. The Queen has quickly become very attached to the dog,” a source previously told the Daily Mail of their pair’s bond.

After losing Whisper, Queen Elizabeth is still a pup parent to two “Dorgis” — Corgi and Dachshund mixes — named Candy and Vulcan and a few Labradors who live at Sandringham. Earlier this year, the Queen was reportedly hit “extremely hard” with the heartbreaking news that one of her other Corgis, Willow, passed away in April. “She does not like seeing her dogs suffer and she knows that sometimes putting a dog down is the kindest course of action — although that doesn’t make her loss any less,” a Buckingham Palace source previously told the Daily Mail. 

Willow was the last of the Queen’s Corgis that descended from her original Corgi, Susan, who was given to her by her parents as an 18th birthday present back in 1944. “She has mourned every one of her Corgis over the years, but she has been more upset about Willow’s death than any of them,” the palace insider said. “It is probably because Willow was the last link to her parents and a pastime that goes back to her own childhood. It really does feel like the end of an era.”

Prior to Willow’s passing, Queen Elizabeth also lost a Corgi named Holly in October 2016. Five years ago, Prince Philip‘s wife revealed to the public that she has decided to stop breeding Corgis because she became nervous about tripping over the small dogs in her advanced age and worried about who would look after her beloved pets when she no longer could.

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