Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved corgis and Princess Diana were not besties. The reason, according to Diana’s former hairstylist, had to do with part of her beauty routine—her fake tan. Ahead, what Diana said when a corgi came near here.
Diana didn’t want the queen’s corgis to lick off her fake tan
Diana’s longtime hairstylist, Richard Dalton, shared a funny story about her and the queen’s corgis while promoting his new book, It’s All About the Hair—My Decade with Diana, which he wrote with friend Renae Plant, curator of The Princess Diana Museum.
Using it as an example of her “amazing, wicked sense of humor,” he told People that Diana didn’t want to cross paths with the queen’s corgis.
“I was patting it, as I love dogs, when Diana came up, and the corgi started to lick her legs,” he recalled. When he told Diana it was the queen’s dog, she “replied with a laugh, ‘Well, get it out of here, as it’s licking all the fake suntan off my legs.’”
“I do find the humorous side of Diana to be very sweet,” he shared, noting her jokes, although “hysterical,” could be “very naughty at times, adding, “She just wanted to be ‘normal’ and was just like the rest of us.”
Other royals couldn’t stand Queen Elizabeth’s corgis either
Princess Diana | Ken Lennox & Kent Gavin & Nigel Wr/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Getty Images
Diana’s dislike of the queen’s corgis, or at least her refusal to be near them to preserve her fake tan, wasn’t unusual among royals. “Everyone in the royal family, without exception, detests the queen’s corgis, and the corgis return the favor,” Christopher Andersen, a royal author, once told The Daily Beast.
From her husband to her children and grandchildren, the queen’s dogs didn’t get much love. “Charles, Philip, Anne, Andrew, Edward, William, [and] Harry, all have gone on record saying they cannot abide Her Majesty’s dogs.”
“They bark, they nip, they pee everywhere. And they are famous for sweeping into a room and tripping people up,” he added before noting there’s one royal they took to immediately. “But they love Meghan. And the queen has practically adopted Meghan’s adorable rescue beagle, Guy.”
The queen’s dogs now live with Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson
Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana | Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth had two Welsh corgis—Sandy and Muick—when she died in 2022 at the age of 96. (Viewers could catch a glimpse of them outside Windsor Castle during her funeral, along with the queen’s beloved horse.) They were reportedly a gift from her son, Prince Andrew, after the death of her husband, Prince Philip, in 2021.
Following the monarch’s own death, the Duke of York and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, took over caring for the dogs.
Ferguson, 64, shared a glimpse of them in an Aug. 26 Instagram post marking International Dog Day. “Wishing you and all your furry friends a Happy #InternationalDogDay,” she wrote alongside a photo of her and the dogs. “For all the unconditional love, loyalty, and joy they bring into our lives, Sandy and Muick will be getting an extra treat on their special day!”
Queen Elizabeth is believed to have had more than 30 corgis during her 70-year reign.
