Queen Elizabeth II’s Favorite Dog Breed Gains Popularity Amid ‘The Crown’ Success

Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite dog breed, the Corgi, is no longer at risk of extinction after the dogs were featured in Netflix’s hit series, “The Crown.”

The show centers on the life of Queen Elizabeth as a young monarch. And even at a young age, she was already in love with Corgis. In fact, the queen has taken care of at least 30 Corgis throughout her life, but she recently vowed to not breed more for fear that she will not be able to take care of them as she gets older, according to The Telegraph.

Kennel Club previously listed Corgis as one of the breeds at risk of extinction since more and more British people are interested in taking care of newer and more fashionable breeds. But after Corgis were shown in “The Crown,” the interest in the breed shot up by 22 percent.

David Robson, a member of the Kennel Club, told the publication, “‘The Crown’ has certainly been important in the resurgence of the Corgi breed. It has increased interest in the breed. Following the transmission of the second series, searches for the breed puppies on our website went up by 22 percent,” he said.

Some of the scenes from “The Crown” showed the queen (Claire Foy) walking inside the Buckingham Palace with her dogs in tow. Corgis were also featured in one of the scenes the queen shared with President John F. Kennedy (Michael Hall) and Jacqueline Kennedy (Jodi Balfour).

Robson said that Corgis are regarded as an older person’s dog since the breed is the queen’s favorite. But this has since changed after viewers saw a younger Queen Elizabeth II taking care of her beloved dogs in the series.

Meanwhile, the popularity of Corgis skyrocketed after Prince Harry said that his grandmother’s Corgis love his fiancée, Meghan Markle, more than him. During their first sit-down interview with BBC (via ABC News), the 33-year-old Prince said, “I’ve spent the last 33 years being barked at – this one walks in, absolutely nothing. Just wagging tails – and I was just like, ‘Argh.’”