As you know, I have a little rescue dog named Teasel, who, for a while, had her own YouTube series of videos, Teasel’s Tudor Trivia.
Well, she’s just heard that Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, has named his new puppy Teasel – what an honour to have a royal dog named after her! It inspired me to produce this video on royal dogs. In the past, I’ve also done videos on Anne Boleyn’s pets, Henry VIII’s dogs, and Tudor pets, and you can see below for those.
My talk on Tudor pets can be found at https://www.tudorsociety.com/tudor-pets/
And here is the Teasel’s Tudor Trivia playlist:
Always lovely to read about the royals and their canine friends, and of course cats and other more exotic pets, Queen Katherine of Aragon loved her miniature pet monkey but her successor hated them, it was fashionable to be painted with them, and in fact one of Leonardo da Vinci models was painted with a stoat or ferret, Henry V111 had two favourite hounds but he also had a pet cat, Cardinal Wolsey also had a feline friend but of course he was non royal, Anne Boleyn of course is famous for her preference for dogs and she had two, little Purkoy who sadly died and Urian which was possibly like a larger hound like dog, Mary Queen of Scots also loved dogs particularly terrier dogs and one followed her to her execution, covered by her voluminous skirts, acts of devotion like these are what dogs particularly are known for, to me the saddest story of all is that of a fighter pilot in world war 11 whose dog waited for his owner to return from duty, day after day he would greet him when he climbed out of his cockpit, then one day he never returned and the dog waited faithfully for him, never moving from his spot, extreme loyalty like this to their master or mistress is what these animals are known for, and nothing is more welcoming to the eye than an excited animal running to greet you after an absence and yet cats can be almost indifferent in comparison, my cats miaow excitedly when they see me arriving home after shopping or work, or a social event, but then they settle down again whereas dogs will bark and jump excitedly for twenty minutes or so, my father had a dog that was devoted to me and would follow me around everywhere, he died over twenty years ago but I miss him to this day, Anne Boleyn also had caged birds gifted to her by lady lisle and so did Jane Seymour who rewarded the lady by securing her youngest daughter a place at court, Henry V111 gave Catherine Howard several puppies one Christmas and very kindly she let Anna of Cleves have one, it seems cute little puppies have always been popular with royals and commoners alike, King Charles 11 made the spaniel popular and his father was painted on his horse with several spaniels, horses also because for hundreds of years they were a necessity as the only form of travel, and the late queen had a favourite called Burmese, Burmese died after many years service and at her funeral her present favourite was there as the hearse made its way to Windsor for the committal, her love of corgis was well known and was often photographed with them, they are cared for by Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Charles favourite dogs are his Jack Russell’s and most of his other siblings own dogs, how strange that Edwards dog is named Teazel also, Anne is a horse person and Princess Diana had a Shetland pony named Soufflé as a girl, but she had a fear of horses due to an unfortunate accident when young, hence the reason we never saw her astride one, Queen Victoria was probably more fond of her ‘Dash’ than her large brood of children, and the Duchess of Windsor was known for her love of pugs, horses and dogs have always featured in the royal families life as they have always been an outdoor sporty family, they have always possessed gun dogs because shooting is a way of life to them, Charles and his polo ponies and the late Duke of Edinburgh liked driving his pony and trap, people complain about fox hunting and pheasant shooting but these activities are a mere way of life to the aristocracy and the royals, I make no comment myself on these sports merely add them to the topic as for hundreds of years it is something they have indulged in.
Iv just seen your video about Anne Boleyn’s pets and I loved seeing your pictures of your own lovely pets Claire, they are all so beautiful you have quite a menagerie, especially liked the one of Oreo watching the tv, my cats sometimes watch the tv and once I caught one watching Tom and Jerry, it did look comical, regarding the mystery greyhound, yes I think you are probably right the writing must have been misread and said it was owned by Urian Brereton, and after all you don’t name your pet after yourself do you? Lady Lisle did all her best to curry favour with the queen sending her a much loved pet, and how she must have been devastated as much as the queen, when she heard of little Purqouy’s demise, she must have regretted letting him go and of course she gifted her birds as well, how wonderful to be presented with a peacock, but the sound they make is dreadful, , I have heard the cry of the peacock and yes it is awful, it makes me think of a howling banshee, completely at odds with its rare beauty, a harsh long cry rather like a cackle, on holiday in Sri Lanka last year I was lucky enough to see several, and I wished they open their feathers but they did not, the shade of blue is magnificent and with their little crest on top of their heads they do indeed look like they were fashioned for royalty, I do like little monkeys I think their incredible fun the way they mimic humans, David Attenborough informed us that the chimpanzee is our cousin, moved by about five thousand years, but the miniature monkeys were the ones that were popular with royalty, Anne must have thought they were disgusting and we must remember these exotic animals were unknown to people of the time, they only knew the animals of their native country, but exploration opened up a whole new world for people and it was said when Darwin showed the victorians a picture of the duck billed platypus, they thought it was a hoax, I love these videos Claire and I must say it again, it was lovely seeing your own gorgeous pets.