Her Majesty, Condolences, and Dorgis(?)

Image via Wikipedia

A few days after Tony died, I received a lovely card from Dr. Kroll.  It brought a few tears to my eyes, but then almost anything did.  I'm past that stage now, but I am still being reminded of him constantly.  In fact, this morning when I checked AOL, they had an item about a 93-year-old man, Stan Lee (no, not the Marvel Comics guy) whose 13-year-old Japanese Chin died of shock after falling off a bed.  I'm all sympathy in this case, not just because of Tony dying so recently, but rather because I know that if that had happened to me, I'd be wallowing in guilt over it.  However, what made the case AOL-worthy was not Lee's age; it was a condolence letter he received, from the queen (although it was penned by a lady in waiting -- it's good to be the queen). 

The Daily Mail reported (the story is at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1239244/Queen-offers-written-condolence-pensioner-death-13-year-old-pet-dog.html#ixzz0bDNONFP9) that Lee has been in the habit of writing the queen to ask after her Corgis from time to time, which is something I would not have imagined.  And I find that I am charmed by this story.  I'm not terribly interested in the Royals, as a rule (people I meet are often surprised by this when it comes up in conversation, since I am a Brit lit scholar), but I am fascinated, in an anthropological sense, by the functions they serve in their culture.  I wouldn't have guessed that people write to them about mundane things, but I can see how they might, now that I've thought about it.  The queen's well-known fondness for her dogs humanizes her, making her more approachable and less of an icon.  There is a UK government website about the royal dogs at http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalHousehold/RoyalAnimals/Familypets.aspx

I was also surprised to learn that she has bred her corgis to dachshunds, resulting in "Dorgis." I tried to find a photo, but no luck.  However, I did learn that my assumption that she would rely on staff to care for the dogs is not quite accurate.  According to the website, "At present, The Queen owns four Corgis: Linnet, Monty, Willow and Holly and four Dorgis: Cider, Berry, Candy and Vulcan.The Queen’s corgis travel with her to the various residences, with Her Majesty looking after them herself as much as possible given her busy schedule."  I find myself consumed by curiosity about the dorgis, and I'll report on them later.

 If you're interested, there is a YouTube video of the Queen and her dogs available at http://lisawallerrogers.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/queen-elizabeths-corgis-and-dorgis/