The royal life is not an understated one. Nothing ever can be when there are tiaras and palaces and wedding dress trains basically the length of actual trains involved. Whether figureheads or actual rulers, royal families have it made.
But it doesn’t just pay to be a human member of a royal family. The pets of monarchs live way more lavish lives than any regular pet (or even regular person) does.
From personal butlers to private chefs, gourmet cuisine, official painted portraits, private air travel, and ruby-encrusted sculptures made in their likeness, royal pets are living the life of luxury.
The most famous modern-day royal pets are probably Queen Elizabeth’s corgis. She’s owned the breed since 1933, and made it a must-have for pet owners across the world. Here are some royal pets who have a paw up on the rest of us.
Queen Elizabeth II has a butler for each of her corgis to cater to them at mealtime.
Can you have a list of fancy royal pets andnotinclude the Queen’s iconic corgis? No. Queen Elizabeth the II has long been fond of dogs, and hers certainly get the royal treatment.
Dr. Roger Mugford, who has trained the royal corgis, gave an interview toTown & Countryin 2015 where he revealed that the dogs are fed in high style.
There are individual menus created specifically for each dog, which are hand-delivered to them in porcelain bowls by their own individual butlers. Though the last of her purebred corgis died earlier this year, she has some corgi mixes that inevitably get the same royal treatment.
The corgis don’t eat canned dog food.
Former royal chef Darren McGrady dished to Hello! Magazine about feeding the royal corgis, saying that he had to be sure to prepare fresh meals for the corgis.
“One day it would be beef, the next day chicken, the next day lamb, the next day rabbit and it alternated through those days,” he said, adding that Princes William and Harry even sometimes provided freshly hunted meat to the kitchens for the dogs.
They relax in luxury, too.
The Sunday Mailreported that the queen’s dogs each sleep in a wicker bed that’s raised above the ground to avoid the chilly floor. And when her dog grooming brushes wear out, she has exact replicas made so as not to change anything about the dogs’ relaxing grooming time.
Princess Mary’s border collie was a magazine star.
According to Hello! The Crown Princess of Denmark loved her dog Ziggy so much that she let him steal some of her spotlight during a feature shoot for Australian Women’s Weekly.
King Edward VII lavished his dog with gifts.
Caesar was a wire fox terrier, and the king was very proud of him. He gave him a collar that read, “I belong to the king,” and assigned him his own footman, according to”The Royals” documentary on Netflix. He also had a Fabergé sculpture made in Caesar’s image adorned with gold and rubies. It’s now part of the royal Fabergé collection.
Dash also received his own royal portrait.
While it’s common for members of the royal family to receive painted portraits, and even for their pets to be painted sitting next to them, a break from tradition gave Dash his own painting. It’s, dare I say, dashing.
Prince William and Duchess Kate let their dog travel by helicopter.
When Lupo accompanies Will and Kate, he rides in style, perVanity Fair.
Zara Tindall’s horse got a public statement of mourning.
Princess Anne’s daughter is an accomplished equestrian and was crushed by the death of her favorite horse Toytown in 2017. According to theTelegraph, she issued a public statement that called Toytown her “greatest friend … with the biggest heart.” She added, “He was a huge part of my family, an amazing animal, and a true champion. I will miss you forever.”