The Queen is on holiday – with her Corgis, naturally – in Balmoral, Prince Philip is heading there on Monday and the guest of honor, Prince Georgie, is due up later in the month accompanied by his parents, William and Kate.

So the Royalist is taking a break too. I’ll be back here bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on on Monday 26 August, all ready for the new term. Of course if any big royal news breaks, the Daily Beast team will be all over it, as you would expect.

Until then, I leave you with this rather charming vintage picture of one the Queen’s corgis playing in the sand with Charles and Anne in 1957.

The corgis are an integral part of royal holidays, and are currently in Balmoral. They were photographed earlier this week arriving at Aberdeen airport, and being carried down the steps of her private jet by a footman.

The palace website says: ‘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.’

Staff often joke that her pampered pets eat better than the human members of the Royal Family. Once, on a previous trip to Balmoral, the Queen 'went bonkers' when she discovered her dogs’ supposedly freshly cooked meals were actually frozen and reheated. A footman was summoned and told to go down to the kitchens where the chefs on duty were severely reprimanded.

As well as Corgis, the Queen also keeps Dorgis – which arrived when one of the Corgis had an unplanned pregnancy following a romantic liason with a Dachsund named Pipkin, who belonged to Princess Margaret.
The Queen currently has  three Dorgis named Cider, Candy and Vulcan.

Prince William is not a fan of the dogs, however: “They’re barking all the time . . . I don’t know how she copes with it,” he told an interviewer, "But her private life with her dogs and her riding and her walking, it's very important to her. She has got to switch off. I would just question the noise!"