The British Monarchy Miscellany

by Alex David

  Starring: Naomi Watts (Princess Diana) Naveen Andrews (Dr Hasnat Khan).

  Soppy flop describing the last two years of Diana’s life and her relationship with London heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.

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  Mary Queen of Scots (2013)

  Director: Thomas Imbach

  Starring: Camille Rutheford (Mary Queen of Scots), Aneurin Barnard (Lord Darnley), Sean Biggerstaff (Earl of Bothwell).

  Swiss-produced, sympathetic portrait of Mary Stuart, based on a popular 1935 Austrian biography. Half-spoken in French.

  A Royal Night Out (2015)

  Director: Julian Jarrold

  Starring: Sarah Gadon (Princess Elizabeth), Bel Powley (Princess Margaret), Rupert Everett (George VI).

  Frothy, highly fictionalised account of Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret’s one night out in London during VE celebrations in 1945.

  Victoria and Abdul (2017)

  Director: Stephen Frears

  Starring: Judy Dench (Queen Victoria), Ali Fazal (Abdul Karim), Eddie Izzard (Bertie, Prince of Wales).

  The fascinating relationship between Queen Victoria and her last confidant, her Indian servant Abdul Karim, is explored in this beautifully photographed though slightly underwhelming biopic.

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  Some Notable Royal Pets

  Every monarch since Henry VIII has owned pets, with dogs the clear favourites, and pet owning has been the norm among Royal Family members since at least the 16th century. Listed below are some of the most notable royal pets of the last 500 years, all of them dogs but with one notable exception. They are listed in rough chronological order.

  Cut

  Pet owner: King Henry VIII

  Cut was a dog belonging to Henry VIII who seems to have had a knack for getting lost. Court financial records from the 1530s show that Henry VIII twice rewarded people for bringing the lost dog back to court. He once gave a man 10 shillings ‘for bringing Cut the kinge’s spanyell ayen’, and later gave 4 shillings and 8 pence ‘to a poure woman in rewarde for bringing ayenne of Cut, the kinge’s dog.’

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  Mary Queen of Scots’ Terrier

  Pet owner: Mary Queen of Scots

  This unnamed small Skye Terrier belonging to Mary

  Queen of Scots achieved immortality when it

  accompanied its mistress to her execution in February 1587 by sneaking its way unnoticed under her skirts. No one realised its presence until after Mary was beheaded and the dog began to howl from under the skirts of her lifeless body. It refused to depart the decapitated body, staining itself with the blood spilling on the floor, and had to be carried away by force. It is said that Mary’s blood could not completely be washed away from its fur, and that the terrier died soon afterwards by refusing to eat.

  Jewell

  Pet owner: King James I

  The story goes that once while King James I and his wife Queen Anne of Denmark were out hunting deer Anne

  mistook her aim and shot instead Jewell, one of James’

  favourite hound dogs. The King immediately lost his temper and ‘stormed exceedingly awhile’, but calmed himself once he learned his wife was the accidental culprit. To make sure Anne would not feel too aggrieved by her mistake, he sent her a diamond worth £2000, ‘as a legacie from his dead dogge.’

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  Boy

  Pet owner: Prince Rupert of the Rhine

  The most famous royal pet of the 17th century, Boy was a white poodle belonging to Prince Rupert, a nephew of Charles I and famous Royalist Commander during the

  English Civil War. Boy accompanied its master

  everywhere on military campaigns, even onto the edge of battlefields. It always seemed to survive unharmed, so a myth grew among Roundheads that it was indestructible and had supernatural powers, including the ability to speak foreign languages and to put hexes on its enemies.

  A pamphlet was even published in 1643 criticizing the influence Boy had on Charles I’s war council, and

  describing its attitude to religion as ‘most popish.’ Boy’s invincibility was finally disproved when it died at the Battle of Marston Moor chasing its master into the fray after someone forgot to tie it to the baggage train. Its fame by then was such that its death was recorded in the Parliamentary Journal as the slain ‘accursed cur’ of which

  ‘so much had been said across the country’.

  Rogue

  Pet owner: King Charles I

  Rogue was one of Charles I’s favourite spaniels who stayed by his side during the last year of his life, from his imprisonment at Carisbrooke Castle in 1648 to his

  execution in London in January 1649. On the last day of 752

  Charles’ life Rogue accompanied him as he walked across St James’s Park to his place of execution in Whitehall, and after Charles’s death it was paraded in the capital as a royal trophy by Roundhead soldiers. Its later fate is unknown.

  Eos

  Pet owner: Prince Albert

  Prince Albert’s favourite dog, Eos was a female

  greyhound that Albert raised from a puppy in Germany and that became his faithful companion for 11 years. It accompanied its master to England and was painted

  several times by Edwin Landseer for the Royal Collection.

  In 1841 it was accidentally shot during a shooting party by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Queen

  Victoria’s uncle, and its fame was such by then that bulletins about its recovery were followed anxiously by royal families across Europe. Eos eventually recovered and later died of natural causes in 1844 at Osborne House, where it is commemorated today with a life-size bronze sculpture in the gardens.

  Dash

  Pet owner: Queen Victoria

  Queen Victoria’s first great canine companion was a King Charles spaniel that had originally been given as a gift to 753

  her mother when Victoria was 14 years old. It soon

  became Victoria’s inseparable friend following her

  wherever she went. ‘Dear Dashy’, as she called it,

  continued being Victoria’s favourite pet after her

  accession as Queen, and she famously recorded in her diary how she came back to Buckingham Palace after her coronation ceremony to give Dash a bath. It died in 1840

  and was buried in Windsor Home Park, where its

  gravestone records ‘His attachment was without

  selfishness, his playfulness without malice, his fidelity without deceit.’

  Noble IV

  Pet owner: Queen Victoria

  Queen Victoria owned several border collies during her life, three of which were named Noble, however it was the fourth collie to bear this name which became perhaps her favourite dog. Described as a sweet-natured creature, Noble IV had been given as a gift to Victoria in 1872 and had the special task of guarding Victoria’s gloves. She described it as ‘the most biddable dog I ever saw, and so affectionate and kind; if he thinks you are not pleased with him, he puts out his paws and begs in such an

  affectionate way.’ When it died at the advanced age of 16

  at Balmoral in 1887 Victoria was distraught. It was buried in the grounds of Balmoral where a lifesize bronze

  memorial still stands on its grave.

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  Turi

  Pet owner: Queen Victoria

  This Pomeranian dog was Queen Victoria’s last favourite pet and can be seen with her in several photographs taken in the last years of her life. It has the claim of being the last pet Victoria ever cuddled as she lay on her deathbed at Osborne House in 1901, asking specifically that Turi be brought to her as one of her last wishes.

  After her death it was adopted by one of Victoria’s daughters-in-law, Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany, the widow of Prince Leopold.

  Alix

  Pet owner: Queen Alexandra of Denmark

  A gift from the Tsar of Russia to Queen Alexandra when she was Princess of Wales in 1895, Alix was a Borzoi dog that bore as its name Alexandra’s ni
ckname in the Royal Family. Borzois were bred exclusively for the Russian Imperial family and were unknown in Britain before the 1860s, so by the time this dog arrived in the country in the 1890s its breed had become one of the priciest in Europe. Alix was exhibited many times at dog shows

  during its lifetime, including Crufts, receiving over 100

  awards. It was reported that people queued for hours at these exhibitions just to see Alexandra’s celebrated Borzoi.

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  Caesar

  Pet owner: King Edward VII

  Caesar was a male Wire Fox Terrier and Edward VII’s favourite dog. It became famous throughout the world in 1910 when it took the place of honour at its master’s funeral procession, walking behind Edward’s coffin

  before all the kings of Europe. While Edward was alive Caesar had its own personal valet to tend to its needs, and a collar around its neck proclaiming ‘I am Caesar, I belong to the King’. Edward even had the jewellery firm of Faberge create a small precious stone figurine of the dog with a gold collar and ruby eyes which remains in the Royal Collection today. After Edward’s death, Caesar went to live with his widow, Queen Alexandra, until it died from an operation in 1914. It is buried in the gardens of Marlborough House, London, but a life-size statue of him curls at the feet of Edward VII’s effigy on his tomb in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

  Charlotte

  Pet owner: King George V

  One of the most unique pets in royal history, Charlotte was a female, grey-pink parrot belonging to King George V, a gift from his sister Victoria. An infamously

  temperamental parrot, George was nevertheless devoted to it. On most mornings he would bring Charlotte,

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  perched on his finger, to the breakfast table where it would forage among people’s plates for something to eat. On the odd occasion when it made a mess on the table the King always tried to cover the item with some tableware before others could notice it. Charlotte would then follow its master into his study where guests were often surprised to see a parrot on a stand next to the King. It was with him for over 20 years until George’s death in 1936, after which it accompanied George’s

  funeral party back to London from Sandringham. Its later fate is unclear.

  Slipper

  Pet owners: Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII

  Slipper was a Cairn terrier Edward VIII gave as a gift to Wallis Simpson at the beginning of their romance in 1934, when he was still Prince of Wales. During the abdication crisis of December 1936 Wallis took the dog with her when she moved to France, in the expectation that she, Edward and Slipper would soon be reunited together.

  Slipper however died soon after its arrival in France when it was bitten by a viper. Wallis Simpson described in her memoirs how ‘his loss on the eve of my reunion with David (Edward) seemed to me a frightful omen’. At the time she wrote to Edward: ‘he was our dog—not yours or mine but ours—and he loved us both. Now the principal guest at our wedding is no more.’ After giving the dog a funeral Wallis and Edward commemorated Slipper with a 757

  diamond medallion which hung in a place of honour in their Paris home.

  Dookie

  Pet owners: Princess Elizabeth and Princess

  Margaret

  Dookie was the first Pembroke Corgi to be owned by the Royal Family, starting a love affair with the breed that persists to this day. It was bought by the Duke of York, the future George VI, for his daughters Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in 1933. It was a male officially called Rozavel Golden Eagle but its name was soon

  changed to Dookie, a shortened version of Duke of York.

  Both princesses became very attached to the dog, which was described as a born sentimentalist, and it was soon joined by another corgi named Jane. Both dogs were

  photographed with the Duke of York’s whole family for a special book published in 1936 entitled Our Princesses and Their Dogs, the sale of which boosted the popularity of the breed in Britain. Dookie died in the early 1940s.

  Susan

  Pet owner: Queen Elizabeth II

  After the death of Dookie, Princess Elizabeth received another Pembroke corgi for her 18th birthday in 1944, another gift from her father King George VI. This time it 758

  was a female called Susan who became one of Elizabeth II’s all-time favourite dogs, even going on honeymoon with her and Prince Philip in 1947. Susan was bred

  several times and became the ancestress of all the corgis owned by Elizabeth II since, counting 14 generations of descendants over the last 60 years. In her adult years she developed a propensity for biting—her victims included a policeman, a sentry and the royal clock winder—which she seems to have passed down to her descendants.

  Susan died in 1959 and was buried at Sandringham, with a headstone memorial designed by Elizabeth II herself.

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  Some Rules to Follow

  When Meeting

  the British Monarch

  There is no obligatory code of behaviour when meeting the British monarch, the only thing that is expected is courtesy. The following rules however have long been part of royal protocol and can be used by people who wish to follow tradition:

   If sitting, rise from your seat when the monarch

  arrives. Stand when the monarch stands, and do not

  sit down unless invited to do so, or unless it is

  generally expected (i.e. a formal dinner or a play).

  Remember to also rise when the monarch leaves.

  The only persons who are exempt from these rules

  are Queens Consort and former monarchs (the late

  Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was exempt

  from rising from her seat in the presence of her

  daughter).

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   Do not turn your back to the monarch when in close proximity at official functions. It is generally

  acceptable to do so however during mingling

  activities.

   Do not introduce yourself to the monarch. Officials, hosts or royal aides will do that for you when it is your turn.

   On meeting the monarch, men should bow and

  women should curtsy. Bows should be simple bows

  from the neck and shoulders only. Curtsies are

  performed by placing your right foot behind the left foot and bending the knees briefly while keeping the upper body straight. Bows and curtsies should also

  be performed when bidding goodbye to the

  monarch. Bows and curtsies are not required from

  citizens of countries of which the Queen is not Head of State (i.e. Commonwealth republics and other

  foreign countries).

   Do not offer your hand for a handshake. If the

  monarch offers a hand for a handshake however do

  shake it, but without gripping or pumping.

   Refrain from touching the monarch, even if

  affectionately meant. The monarch will generally do not mind if this rule is broken, but other people are likely to take offense, especially in official situations.

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   Generally, do not start speaking with the monarch until invited to do so. He or she will normally start a conversation with you.

   Address the monarch the first time as ‘Your Majesty’, and subsequently throughout the conversation with

  ‘Ma’am’—which should rhyme with ‘Pam’—if the

  monarch is a woman, or ‘Sir’ if a man. Use ‘Your

  Majesty’ again when addressing the monarch for the

  last time before he or she departs.

   During conversation, do not address the monarch by using ‘you’. Instead address the monarch in the third person by using ‘Your Majesty’ (for example: “Has

  Your Majesty enjoyed the weather today?”).

   Do not ask personal questions in conversation. If mentioning other members of the Royal Family refer

  to their titles, not to their personal names
(for

  example, say ‘the Prince of Wales’, not ‘Charles’).

   At the dinner table, everyone should stop eating

  their courses after the monarch has finished eating and cleared the plate. Generally however, if the

  monarch has finished eating before others diners he or she will always leave a small amount of food on

  the plate to allow others to finish their courses.

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  It is important to note that breaking any of the rules above will not incur any royal displeasure so long as general courtesy is still employed. The Royal Household’s guidelines on meeting the monarch are only that people should adopt rules of courtesy with which they are

  comfortable.

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  How to Write to Members

  Of The Royal Family

  Members of the Royal Family can normally only be

  contacted by post. Following below are some rules and advice on how to write a letter plus current mailing addresses.

  Some Rules and Advice

  Debrett’s ‘Rules of Etiquette’ advises that only close personal friends should write directly to members of the Royal Family, everyone else should write to the Private Secretary, Equerry or Lady-in-Waiting of the person they wish to contact. This practice however is rarely followed today, and the British Monarchy website encourages