A new book claims the Queen has up to 20 of Britain’s most popular breed and even ordered special adaptations to be made to her Land Rovers to deal with the dogs’ steamy foggy breath.
‘Private love’: The Queen may be well-known as a fan of the corgi, but according to Ben Fogle her real love is the labrador. Pictured (left) the Queen strokes Morgan the labrador in Vancouver and (right) with her dogs at Balmoral in 1971
Television adventurer Ben Fogle – whose wife Marina’s sister is a former girlfriend of the Duke of Cambridge – writes that the Queen keeps her group of the breed hidden from public view in Sandringham, Norfolk.
The broadcaster describes the breed as the ‘private love of her life’ in his book ‘Labrador: The Story of the World’s Favourite Dog’.
Fogle said he was not allowed to see the Queen’s dogs for himself, but told The Times: ‘She keeps them very secret.
‘The corgis are the dogs that she is happy to show off, but she has a huge kennel of labradors.
‘They are one part of her life she likes to keep private.’
Fogle also claims The Queen has made special changes to fleet of country cars so she can drive the dogs around.
Out of sight: The TV adventurer claimed that the Queen keeps her band of labradors hidden out of public eye at Sandringham, in Norfolk, but has up to 20 of them and even made special adaptations to a fleet of Land Rovers to accommodate them. Pictured, the Queen with two labradors on leads returning from a holiday at Balmoral Castle
Presenter Ben Fogle with his dogs Storm and Maggi, and their friend Voltaire, at London’s first ever Labrador Flash Mob in Holland Park, to promote his new book
He wrote: ‘I was once told a story that the Queen has several Land Rovers custom-made with windscreen wipers on the inside.
‘Apparently these were specifically adapted for her labradors who have a tendency to steam cars up from the inside out.’
Fogle, who also interviewed Viscount Knutsford for the book, said ‘The Queen has often lamented to him how much she wished she could spend more time with her beloved labradors.
‘The Queen had a particular soft spot for one lab and decided to bring it to Windsor Castle so she could spend more time with it.
‘She fed it and walked it herself, but the poor dog pined for its mates back at Sandringham and so she eventually sent it back for the sake of the dog. Even the Queen thinks of her dogs first.’
In Fogle’s new book, the presenter tells many of his own personal stories through his relationships with dogs.
Fogle – who describes himself as ‘apolitical’ also said the breed would make the perfect dog for David Cameron because the Prime Minister is ’so worried about being classed as posh’.
Loyal subjects: The Queen is best known for her group of corgis, seen here being dried after a walk in Balmoral
Lucky hounds: According to Fogle, the Queen had one particular labrador that she liked so much she took it to Windsor Castle, but she was forced to send it back to Sandringham after it pined for its friends back home
He also questions why the Conservative party leader doesn’t have a dog, adding: ‘I did vote Tory, but I’m kind of apolitical now…Cameron spends half his life in the Cotswolds and he has lots of kids, for God’s sake.
‘What do you do there if you don’t have a dog? Everyone he knows has a dog, I don’t know anyone in his circumstances who doesn’t. I genuinely find it odd.
‘If I was made minister of education, every school would have a dog. One of my teachers had a labrador. I loved it.’
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