It has been reported that Her Majesty The Queen has lost another corgi, Whisper, whom she took in last year following the death of Whisper’s master, ex-Sandringham gamekeeper Bill Fenwick. Bill’s wife, Nancy, who passed away three years ago, was the keeper of the Queen’s corgis and The Queen ‘couldn’t resist’ taking in the couple’s beloved dog.
According to the Daily Mail, Whisper became ill several weeks ago and passed on last week. The Queen originally gifted the dog to the Fenwick’s when it was still a puppy and as according to a palace aide, because “the Fenwicks looked after their corgis like the Queen…she knew there would be no problem if Whisper came to the Palace”.
The only thing that did change for the dog when it moved in with The Queen was the spelling of her name. The unnamed aide shared that: “When the dog was born it was named Wispa after the chocolate bar. The Queen thought it was a bit obscure and preferred the proper spelling.”
Whisper is the second corgi Her Majesty has lost this year as her beloved Willow passed away in April. Willow had an illness which was ‘cancer related’ and it’s reported that The Queen made the difficult decision to have her companion put to sleep so that the nearly 15-year-old dog would not suffer.
Willow was well known for her appearance in the James Bond sketch during the London Olympics opening ceremony in 2012 and palace insiders said that Her Majesty was hit “extremely hard” by her loss. Willow was a descendant of The Queen’s first corgi, Susan, who was an 18th birthday present for the then Princess Elizabeth.
At the time of Willow’s death, a Buckingham Palace source told the Daily Mail: “She has mourned every one of her corgis over the years, but she has been more upset about Willow’s death than any of them… It is probably because Willow was the last link to her parents and a pastime that goes back to her own childhood. It really does feel like the end of an era.”
