Queen Elizabeth Experienced ‘Childlike Escapism’ After Getting Her First Corgi At 7

Queen Elizabeth reportedly experienced so-called childlike escapism when she received her first pet Corgi at the age of 7.

Her Majesty’s dad, King George V, gifted the monarch with a dog, and this started her love for animals. At that time, the Queen’s younger sister, Princess Margaret, was just 3 years old and she also received her first pet from her dad.

Social anthropologist Kate Fox recently talked about the impact that the dogs had on the Queen in the Netflix documentary “The Royals.” She said that dogs have allowed the 93-year-old royal to enjoy something like childlike escapism.

"Our pets are kind of like our alter egos. They're almost what a psychotherapist would call our inner child… I think all of this applies even more to the Royal Family, particularly to the Queen than to the rest of us,” she said.

“If you think about it, she has to be even more repressed and inhibited and reserved and dignified, than the rest of us put together, and very rarely gets an opportunity to express what she's really feeling. Her inner brat doesn't get let out very often, does it?” Fox added.

All of the Queen’s Corgis descended from a dog named Susan, who was given to her on her 18^th birthday in 1944. Her Majesty’s last Corgi, Willow, passed away last year.

Four years ago, the monarch decided to stop breeding Corgis for fear that her dogs might outlive her. When this happens, the Queen will no longer have the opportunity to know if her beloved pets are well taken care of at all times.

Monty Roberts, a horse whisperer, previously told Vanity Fair that the Queen no longer wanted more young dogs. “She didn’t want to leave any young dog behind,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Queen still has two adorable dogs at the moment. Vulcan and Candy are a crossbreed between her Corgis and Princess Margaret’s dachshund Pipkin.