A photography exhibition featuring the late Queen and her long association with Pembroke Welsh corgis will be opening in March at the Wallace Collection in central London. Each decade of the Queen’s life will be marked by a single image that captures Her Majesty and her love of the breed.

Queen Elizabeth II of England at Balmoral Castle with one of her Corgis, 28 September 1952. (c) Bettmann / Contributor via Getty Images

The display will coincide with the Collection’s major exhibition, Portraits of Dogs from Gainsborough to Hockney, which explores our devotion to four-legged friends across the centuries. Through carefully selected paintings, sculptures, drawings, works of art and even taxidermy, the forthcoming exhibition highlights the unique bond between humans and their canine companions.

The Queen’s own passion for the fearless breed of herding dog began in 1933 at the age of 7, when she and her sister, Princess Margaret, were given a pair named Jane and Dookie by their father, the future King George VI. From then on, they were always by her side. Being a constant presence in her life often led to them being immortalised with her in photographs taken by the press – a selection of which form this display.

The earliest image in the exhibition dates from July 1936 and is of the young Princess Elizabeth playing in the large garden of 145 Piccadilly – the London house where she lived much of her early childhood – with Jane and Dookie.

Other images show corgis accompanying The Queen during her work, which often led to them appearing at important events. A photograph from 15 October 1969 shows The Queen with four corgis in tow, returning from Balmoral to King’s Cross in order to meet the astronauts of Apollo 11 at Buckingham Palace.

The exhibition will end with the photo of two Corgis waiting at Windsor Castle on the day of Her Majesty The Queen’s funeral.

The exhibition, The Queen and her Corgis, opens on 8th March at the Wallace Collection and runs until late June. It’s free to visit.

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One comment
  1. Robert says:
    29 January 2023 at 7:37 am

    Thanks: I’ll definitely go. (By the way you might want to rethink the tagline “Queen Elizabeth II of England at Balmoral Castle”!)

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