Platinum Jubilee with Corgis
As Britain this week celebrates the queen's 70 years on the throne, corgis are playing a starring role.
The queen, of course, is famous for her love of Pembroke Welsh Corgis. She is said to have had more than 30 during her reign. According to the British tabloids, the queen currently has two corgis named Muick and Sandy, a dorgi (corgi-dachshund mix) named Candy and, in a break from tradition, a cocker spaniel named Lissy.
For the jubilee, Buckingham Palace has embraced the association of the queen with her corgis and unveiled a winking "PJ the corgi emoji" for people to share on social media. (Link doesn't work, sorry!)
Corgi images adorn commemorative ornaments, pillows, mugs and biscuits. Corgi sculptures have been installed around the streets of central London.
Puppets based on past and present royal corgis will be part of a Platinum Jubilee pageant in London on Sunday. And during a finale pageant procession on Sunday, a giant puppet of the queen will be surrounded by a pack of puppet corgis.
On Sunday, around 300 pooches, and their humans, found their way to The Refinery, a restaurant in central London that was decked out in royal memorabilia. A life-size cardboard cut-out of the queen with a "dogs this way" sign greeted customers outside.
"Her Majesty has always kept corgis, and I think this is the right way to celebrate," said Ian Middleton, an airline pilot. The Platinum Jubilee, he said, was probably the last major hurrah that the public would be holding for Britain's 96-year-old monarch. "I think there's a realization that this is the last major event and it's a way to say thank you," he said. His corgi was squirming in his arms and less interested in a Washington Post reporter's questions than in the nearby "pupuccino bar". Of all the jubilee celebrations happening across the country this week, London's pop-up "Corgi Cafe" was one of the most unusual. The corgis were allowed to freely roam the cafe, weaving through a sea of tables, eyeing leftovers, sniffing at everything.
This short-legged customer at the "pupuccino bar" seemed initially unsure of the drink to choose to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee. A cup of whipped cream, yes, but with what topping? Gravy bones or peanut butter? After a few inquisitive sniffs, the customer, a 3-year-old corgi, made her preference for peanut butter known with some enthusiastic tail wagging.
Pug Café, a dog events company that put on the event, designated a "chill zone" for nervous and older corgis.
The queen's love of corgis has inspired a lot of jubilee merch. Retailers are pushing corgi ornaments, corgi paperweights, corgi pillows and corgi leggings!
Retailer Marks & Spencer has a caramel corgi mousse cake, a corgi chocolate sponge roll and corgi gingerbread.
Platinum Jubilee souvenirs, from mugs to Barbies to corgi cakes
Washington Post, June 1, 2022 05.06.2022
