It has been a full year, even for Queen Elizabeth.
But the 94-year-old British monarch now has two new corgi puppies to lift his spirits.
Adorable dogs have cheered her while her husband, Prince Philip, 99, remains hospitalized while recovering from a heart operation, The Sun reported.
“They are both said to bring a lot of noise and energy to the castle while Philip is in the hospital,” an informant told the dam.
Dogs are believed to have been a gift to the long-time monarch, who has a documented love for the breed.
She is said to be “delighted” by the additional company of Windsor Castle, where she has been isolating with nearby staff in the midst of the pandemic.
It has been about two weeks since her husband, over 70, Philip, was hospitalized and the queen apparently has not been able to see any other family since December due to the coronavirus.
The new puppies, whose names and gender were not revealed, arrived some time after Philip went to the hospital on Feb. 17, according to The Sun.
“They’ve only been there a couple of weeks, but they are said to be adorable and turned the castle into their home,” the source said.
The queen has owned more than 30 dogs since she was crowned in 1952, all of them corgis or dorgis, which are a cross between a dachshund and a corgi.
All of her dogs were descended from Susan, a corgi that Elizabeth received on her 18th birthday.
The new puppies are not part of this royal line, but that doesn’t stop them from comforting the Queen during a tumultuous time.
Buckingham Palace has prepared for what is expected to be Oprah Winfrey’s bomb interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which will air on Sunday.
The palace appears to be fighting the planned attacks by the couple with an increasingly extensive investigation into Markle’s alleged intimidating behavior and a television special of his own.
The news of the puppies was also a surprise, as the royal privileged had believed that the queen would never get another dog after she stopped breeding corgis in 2018.
His last corgi, Whisper, died in October of that year. She has only had one dog, a dorgi named Candy, since Vulcan, also a dorgi, died last November.
“It is unthinkable that the queen has no corgis,” the source said. “It’s like the Tower of London has no crows.”