The Queen's adopted corgi from her gamekeeper has died

'It really does feel like the end of an era'

The Queen is often associated with her love of Pembroke Welsh corgis, supposedly owning over 30 dogs of that breed during her reign - breeding her own, descending from her childhood pet, Dookie.

News emerged this week however that her last corgi had died, ending her 74 year connection with the breed - and while the news is very sad, there's a very touching story behind how she acquired her last Corgi, Whisper.

Whisper was 12-years-old and was adopted by the Queen in 2016 after his owner - a former Sandringham gamekeeper passed away.

The Queen and Whisper were reportedly very close, with the Corgi said to follow the monarch from room to room at Buckingham Palace.

This news comes after the tragic announcement in April that Willow, a 14th-generation descendant of the Queen’s first dog Susan, had been put down at the age of 14 after suffering from cancer - something that is said to have hit the Queen 'extremely hard'.

Queen Elizabeth’s father, George VI, is said to have been the one to bring corgis into the royal family, now considered a staple, with Elizabeth II breeding over 30 since 1945. In recent years however, the monarch decided to stop breeding her dogs, for fear that they would outlive her - something she did not wish on her beloved pets.

‘For many, many years she bred and raised corgis and to think that the last one has now gone is something of a milestone,' a source told the Daily Mail.

While Whisper and Willow aren't too uncommon for monikers, the Queen's corgi names have been fairly questionable over the years, with some of her beloved former dogs bearing the names, Candy, Sugar, Foxy, Bushy, Honey, Whisky, Sherry and Bisto Oxo.

Our thoughts are with the Queen.