Boris Johnson has disclosed that he was advised not to bring his Jack Russell cross to Balmoral due to a heartbreaking incident involving a Royal corgi and one of Princess Anne’s English bull terriers.
In his revealing memoirs, the former Prime Minister recalls his initial visit to the late Queen’s private Scottish haven in September 2019. At that juncture, Boris and Carrie Symonds were engaged – prompting speculation as to whether they would share a bedroom.
Johnson said: “As anyone could have predicted, the Queen did not give a monkey’s about any of this. (Though we were advised against bringing Dilyn the dog. Apparently, Princess Anne had once brought some dogs and they killed a corgi.)”
Despite delving into various topics in his book portions of which are being serialised by the Daily Mail, Johnson offers no additional detail on the canine altercation. That said, reports over the years have suggested that Princess Anne’s English bull terriers have been involved in several incidents.
A ghastly event unfolded in 2003 when one of Anne’s bull terriers, Dotty, savagely attacked a corgi named Pharo during the Royal Family’s Christmas gathering at Sandringham. The attack resulted in severe injuries for Pharo, ultimately leading to the heartbreaking decision to euthanise by emergency vets, amidst alarming scenes described as having “a lot of blood and a lot of screaming”.
Further to this, Anne faced legal repercussions in 2002 when the same dog, Dotty, bit two children in Windsor Great Park, prompting a court case. Although the boys, then seven and twelve, managed without stitches, the Princess Royal was hit with a £500 fine and told to pay damages, reports the Scottish Daily Express.
In 1991, a previous English bull terrier, Eglantyne, attacked another dog in Windsor Great Park and later bit a spectator at Gatcombe Park, Princess Anne’s estate. Boris Johnson’s dog, Dilyn, is also known for its energetic behaviour.
A visitor to 10 Downing Street claimed to have seen the dog jump onto a stool made from the foot of an elephant shot by US President Teddy Roosevelt.
With the Jack Russell cross left behind in London, the former Tory leader recounts that his first visit to Balmoral was a “curiously calming experience.
He writes: “I had to pinch myself as the then 93-year-old monarch drove us at top speed in her Range Rover, bouncing up an unmade road with the moon shining on the moors.
We reached a bothy, once a favourite of Queen Victoria, and it felt so paradoxical, so topsy-turvy, to watchthe Queen bustle around and make her special vinaigrette and lay out the elements of the picnic in their Tupperware boxes.
“The Duke of Edinburgh fired up his enormous steel barbecue – which he had designed and made himself – and after supper he and I talked for a while by the fire, about the disasters of human demography and the loss of the natural world.
“Finally, we were summoned outside, where a torchlit procession of pipers had appeared. I will never forget the sparks of the torches flying upwards into the night sky, and Her Majesty watching her piper intently, beaming, and tapping time with her foot.
