Corgis Parade Outside Buckingham Palace in Tribute to Queen Elizabeth Ahead of First Anniversary of Her Death

Queen Elizabeth was remembered on Sunday in a special – and very appropriate – way.

A group of around two dozen royal fans and their pet corgis took part in a parade outside Buckingham Palace in London to mark the upcoming first anniversary of the late monarch’s death. The animals were dressed in crowns, tiaras and other royal attire for the occasion.

Agatha Crerer-Gilbert, who organized the memorial event, told The Associated Press that she hopes the parade will be held annually in the future. “I can see no better way to remember her than through her corgi, through the breed she loved and cherished throughout her life,” she said of Queen Elizabeth, who died on September 8, 2022, aged 96.

“You know, I still can’t get used to the fact that she’s not physically around us, but she’s looking at us. Look, the sun is shining, I thought it was going to shine on us today,” Crerer-Gilbert added.

A group of pet owners dressed up their corgis to take part in a parade to honor the memory of Queen Elizabeth.

AP Photo/Alastair Grant

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Crerar-Gilbert and her husband, Fernando, are proud pet parents to 5-year-old Cardigan Welsh corgi Ruffus, who took part in the costume parade, and said they will “carry on the royal tradition of always having a corgi,” adding that owners corgi to be eternal debtors to the queen.

“Many of us feel that the expression of our enduring respect and love for the Queen is best expressed by bringing the corgi community together,” Crerar-Gilbert said. “Corgis are very playful and bring a smile to many faces. After the Queen’s death, they have helped to lift spirits and I think she would have loved this gathering. It seems like the perfect way to honor her legacy.”

Caroline Perry, Author Corgi and the Queen, says the anniversary of the Queen’s death is a time of great significance for corgi owners.

“Even as a very young girl, Elizabeth was fascinated by the breed,” she tells PEOPLE. Queen Elizabeth’s lifelong love of the corgi breed began in 1933 when her father, the future King George VI, brought home a corgi named Dookie from a local kennel. Another corgi named Jane soon followed.

Perry adds: “And for her 18th birthday, the only present she wanted was her own corgi puppy. That dog, Susan, was the matriarch of the royal canine dynasty, with 30 corgis directly descended from a puppy that many consider one of the true loves of Elizabeth’s life.”

A young Queen Elizabeth poses with one of her corgis in 1952. Bettmann

In addition to corgis, Queen Elizabeth was also a dachshund-corgi cross dog known as a “dorgi”, a breed she is credited with creating!

Her loyal furry companions enjoyed lives of luxury, including an elaborate menu with food that Queen Elizabeth would often feed them herself, according to former royal chef Darren McGrady. The pooches also took daily walks with the late monarch and rode with her in limousines and private jets.

Perry says Queen Elizabeth was a very skillful owner. “She fed the corgis herself and trained them so that each dog would wait patiently until it was his or her time to eat. She walked them every day. She made each dog their own Christmas stocking, full of goodies. She knew all their personalities, their likes and dislikes. Corgis are very charming and lively dogs, but the Queen was the alpha of her pack!”

Corgi parade.

Agatha Crerar-Gilbert

Ahead of Queen Elizabeth’s official service following her state funeral last year, corgis were on hand to meet her coffin at Windsor Castle. Photos captured the two dogs standing with a pair of helpers as they waited to say goodbye to their devoted owner.

Perry says: “The Queen orchestrated every element of her funeral, knowing it would be watched by millions around the world. The fact that she arranged for her two corgis, Muick and Sandy, to wait for her coffin as it entered Windsor Castle, en route to her final resting place, it’s a testament to how much these dogs meant to her. There’s no doubt that a corgi parade would have given her immense joy.”

A source told PEOPLE at the time that the animals would be taken in and cared for by Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.

“The corgis will return to live at Royal Lodge with the Duke and Duchess. It was the Duchess who found the puppies that the Duke gave to Her Majesty,” a source close to the Duke said.

Fergie — as Sarah, aka the Duchess of York — told PEOPLE earlier this year that corgis are “national icons, so I panic every time they run off looking for squirrels. But they’re a total joy and I always think when they’re not barking to nothing, and there’s no squirrel in sight, I believe it’s because the queen is passing by.”

The history of Queen Elizabeth II and her devotion to Corgis

Queen Elizabeth’s two corgis await the arrival of her coffin at Windsor Castle. GLYN KIRK/POOL/AFP via Getty

Queen Elizabeth’s special bond with her corgis will be immortalized in a new statue to be erected in England’s East Midlands. According to the photos he posted The Telegraph in July, a seven-foot-tall sculpture depicts Queen Elizabeth standing in formal attire with one of her corgis at her feet. The Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland had it placed in front of the local library.

“I wanted something that reflected Her Majesty as Queen, not as a person for posterity,” said Dr Sarah Furness, Lord Lieutenant of Rutland. “But we wanted to do something that reflected her warmth and humanity.”

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Corgi parade.

Chris Rowan

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Sculptor Hywel Brân Pratley, who is adding two more corgis to the unfinished sculpture, explained why he decided to make the dogs the centerpiece of the sculpture.

“I thought very quickly that I would love to have a corgi nestling in her robes at her feet because that’s a great symbol, artistically, of her being the mother of the nation,” Pratley said. The Telegraph. “The dogs and we can take shelter under Her Majesty.”

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Source: HIS Education