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Anne's dog faces death
By Alexa Baracaia and Tariq Tahir, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 24.12.03
Free reign: the Queen's corgis roam around as she welcomes guests
Princess Anne is today facing the prospect of having one of her dogs put down after it savaged to death one of the Queen's corgis.
Little more than a year after it attacked two children in Windsor Park, Anne's English bull terrier Dottie has mauled the Queen's pet Pharos as the royal family gathered for Christmas at Sandringham.
After the Windsor Park attack, a judge warned that Dottie would be destroyed if it reoffended.
The dog is said to have gone berserk as the Princess arrived at the Norfolk residence to be greeted at the door by a servant.
As the Queen's corgi ran down the main staircase towards them, Dottie leapt at its hind legs - breaking one in three places.
Yelps and growls echoed down the corridors as it continued its assault. The Queen, who is recovering from a knee operation, hobbled downstairs to find her pet badly injured.
Despite the best attempts of vets to treat him, the wounded animal had to be put down.
A royal source said the Queen was "absolutely devastated" by the attack on Pharos on Monday. She had already made up a Christmas stocking for him - as she does each year for all her corgis.
"His death has left her deeply saddened," the insider told The Sun. "Everyone knows what the Queen's corgis mean to her. They are loyal, faithful and cherished.
"The incident has certainly put a damper on the Christmas holiday. It's terrible, and everyone at Sandringham is very upset. This has been a tough year for the Queen and this is a tragic way for it to end."
Princess Anne, 53, is described as being "beside herself " over the assault on her mother's pet.
She was fined £500 on 21 November last year when she became the first member of the royal family to plead guilty to a criminal offence and acquire a criminal-record after she admitted her terrier had attacked two boys in Windsor Great Park.
The older child, aged 12, was bitten on the collar bone and twice on the leg while his seven-year-old brother was scratched on the arm and bitten on the leg. Both went to hospital but did not need stitches.
At the time Judge Penelope Hewitt spared Dottie but effectively imposed a suspended death sentence. The Princess was ordered to retrain her dog and keep it on a lead in public. But the judge warned that Dottie would be destroyed if it offended again.
This latest attack appears to be proof that the animal cannot be rehabilitated.
Pharos, named after the great Alexandrian lighthouse, was among the 10th generation of corgis descended from the Queen's first dog Susan. In keeping with royal tradition, he will be buried in the grounds of the residence where he died.
He will join Susan and two other corgis, Sugar and Heather, who all have gravestones at Sandringham. The Queen has five remaining corgis and three dachshund corgis crosses.
Anne, however, has famously eschewed her mother's favoured breed in favour of bull terriers since she was given one by a ladyinwaiting in 1989.
The Princess at the time declared: "This will give the Palace corgis a run for their money."
Dottie is not the only one of Anne's pets to launch a vicious attack. Only weeks after the Windsor Great Park incident another of her bull terriers, believed to be called Eglantyne, mauled a dog owned by the Queen's groom Diane Jones.
A royal spokesman refused to comment about the attack.
