Queen Elizabeth Not Even Walking Her Beloved Dogs as She Recovers From Mystery Health Crisis
It has been described as her “tonic,” so the queen pausing walkies with her pups is adding to concerns about her health after last week’s overnight hospitalization.
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Queen Elizabeth is missing out on one of the simple pleasures of her life—walking her dogs every day in Windsor Great Park—as she recovers from a mystery health condition that landed her in hospital last week, it was reported Tuesday.
Reports say the 95-year-old monarch has not been out exercising any of her three dogs in recent days. Her Majesty has two corgi puppies and a dorgi.
Dorgis, a cross between a corgi and a dachshund, have been a royal favorite ever since one of the queen’s corgis had puppies as a result of an unplanned liaison with one of her late sister Princess Margaret’s dachshunds.
The queen is well known for lavishing time and attention on her dogs, which she has bred since she was a teenager, and insists on personally feeding and walking them herself.
However the Daily Mail reports that since she was hospitalized last week, and was forced to cancel at late notice a high-profile two-day trip to Northern Ireland, she has not been able to walk her dogs.
The Mail cites a source as saying the monarch has been taking so seriously instructions from her doctors to rest that she has not even been walking her beloved canines.
The official line from the palace remains that the queen is in good spirits and undertaking light work at home. The queen did not have any public appearances in her diary this week and is unlikely to be seen in public.
Next week, however, is a different matter. She’s scheduled to open the landmark COP26 climate summit in Glasgow and there has been no change announced to that plan so far.
However, there is much nervousness in royal circles about the queen’s health, with sources telling The Sunday Times this week that the queen was “knackered.” The report said the queen had maintained a busy social life since her husband’s death this year, with “a flow of lunches and dinners with family and friends, because the queen does not want to dine alone.” Another courtier told The Sunday Times: “It’s been too much.”
The palace press office was accused of trying to cover up her overnight stay at the King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Wednesday last week, but the failed attempt at secrecy backfired after tabloid newspaper The Sun revealed the visit. The misdirection of the media over the queen’s health has only added to questions about her condition.
The revelation that she has paused walking with her beloved dogs, allowing her staff to take over the duty described as usually being a “tonic” to her, having also missed church Sunday, is likely to add to speculation over the state of her health.
Prince William, in a 2012 documentary, spoke about the importance of her canine companions in helping her “switch off,” saying: “Her private life with her dogs and her riding and her walking, it’s very important to her.”