/ 24 December 2003

Murder in the royal family

Queen Elizabeth II is mourning the death of one of her beloved corgis, mauled by a terrier belonging to her daughter, Princess Anne, a British newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Sun tabloid said Pharos the corgi was injured in an altercation with bull terrier Dotty at the royal family’s Sandringham estate on Monday. The corgi was treated by royal vets for leg injuries but had to be put down, the newspaper said.

Buckingham Palace would not comment on the alleged attack.

The queen is a noted corgi fancier, and has owned more than 30 of the petite Welsh cattle dogs.

Dotty has been in trouble before. In April 2002 she bit two children, aged seven and 12, as they walked in Windsor Great Park near Windsor Castle.

Princess Anne was fined £500 — the first time in the modern age that a senior member of the British royal family had been convicted of a criminal offence.

After a canine psychologist described Dotty as ”an utterly placid, playful dog”, the judge spared Dotty’s life, but ordered her to undergo training and be kept on a leash in public places for the rest of her life. — Sapa-AP