▶ Watch Video: Celebrating Britain’s queen means celebrating the corgi
London — Queen Elizabeth II‘s love for dogs has taken center-stage as Britain celebrates her 70 years on the throne. Royalty is revered in Britain, and as CBS News correspondent Ian Lee reports, that’s helped make the corgi the country’s top dog.
“I thought it was only right to go with quite a regal name for him,” corgi lover Charlotte Osten said of her pooch. “Hence, he is called George.”
The regal pedigree was getting pampered at a London café ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
“I love the jubilee. I love the queen, and I love that the queen’s got corgis,” Francesca Shortall, another corgi mom at the café told CBS News.
The 96-year-old monarch grew up with the stubby-legged dogs, and she’s owned more than 30 of them so far. The only drama they’ve brought to the palace during her reign was some nipping of guests.
It should come as little surprise, given their special place in the queen’s heart, that the breed will be showcased during this week’s four-day national Platinum Jubilee holiday.
“One of the things we’re going to see in the pageant on Sunday is a reflection of her love for animals, horses, for her corgis,” Roya Nikkhah, royal correspondent for the U.K.’s Sunday Times newspaper, told CBS News.
Most of the queen’s royal line of corgis are all direct descendants from her first dog, Susan.
“It’s great. I feel proud to be British,” said another non-royal corgi lover at the café.
Sir Paul McCartney and best-selling author Tina Brown reflect on Queen Elizabeth’s unprecedented reign in “Her Majesty The Queen: A Gayle King Special.”
