King Charles and Queen Camilla open their doors for Christmas photoshoot with rescue dogs
The King and Queen have opened the doors of their Gloucestershire estate for a festive photoshoot with adorable pooches from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
Rescue pups from the animal welfare charity, of which the Queen is patron, sit atop footstools with cushions created using recycled drapery from curtains in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Percy, Darcie, Elspeth, Harper, Missy and Shadow, who are all looking for new homes in time for Christmas, travelling from the charity’s Old Windsor Centre to Charles and Camilla’s home in Tetbury for the day. They posed on a new range of bespoke footstools, crafted and finished by students and community groups working with Charles’s charity The King’s Foundation.
Camilla recently said a sad farewell to one of her own beloved Battersea rescue dogs, Beth, a 13-year-old Jack Russell terrier, who had to be put down due to illness. Camilla adopted Beth in 2011 when she was a three-month-old unwanted puppy, and another jack russell, Bluebell, in 2012 after she was found wandering alone in a London park with a painful skin condition.
The King last week told TV presenters Alan Carr and Amanda Holden at the Royal Variety Show that he and the Queen would be looking at getting a new dog for Christmas. Asked whether the Queen might be tempted by any of the visiting dogs, a royal source said: “While it’s a little too soon for Her Majesty to start deciding on a new friend for Bluebell, she remains a great supporter of all the work that Battersea Dogs and Cats home does in finding loving homes for all their rescue pets – not just for Christmas but forever.”
Kaye Mughal, centre manager in Windsor, said: “It was a special day bringing some of our dogs from Battersea’s Old Windsor Centre to Highgrove Gardens. They enjoyed the day out, experiencing visiting a new place and getting into the festive spirit. They also enjoyed testing out some of the unique footstools and have officially given them their approval.”
The six dogs – Percy, a sweet four-year-old white bichon cross; Darcie, a playful three-month-old black Labrador puppy; Elspeth, an energetic and sociable one-year-old brown cocker spaniel; Harper, an intelligent and gentle three-year-old jack russell terrier; Missy, an inquisitive three-year-old black English cocker spaniel; and Shadow – a shy three-legged, four-year-old grey deerhound lurcher who loves walks – are all hoping to be rehomed.
