King Charles III had a surprise visitor during an appearance in Northern Ireland today: a corgi. On Tuesday, the new monarch and Queen consort Camilla traveled to Northern Ireland for a memorial service in Queen Elizabeth’s honor at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast. The Queen died peacefully on Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. During their visit to Northern Ireland, the king and queen consort also greeted well-wishers at Hillsborough Castle, the royal family’s residence. As condolences were received for the Queen’s loss, King Charles III bumped into a corgi in the crowd. The corgi is named Connie. Charles McQuillan/Stringer/Getty Images The new king seemed happy to see the furry friend, pointing and smiling. The corgi is named Connie, according to Getty Images. King Charles stopped to speak to Connie’s owner and even allowed the dog to sniff his hand as the audience looked on. The king let the dog sniff his hand. Charles McQuillan/Stringer/Getty Images Corgis hold a special place in the history of the royal family. The Queen has owned over 30 corgis during her 70 years on the throne. As Insider previously reported, most of her dogs were descendants of Susan, a corgi she had given her when she was just 18 years old. Susan accompanied the Queen on her honeymoon with Prince Philip and was still alive when she ascended the throne in 1952. Queen Elizabeth’s corgis have made public appearances with her in photographs and were even in an introductory skit she filmed with Daniel Craig for the 2012 London Olympics. He stopped breeding corgis in 2015 as he didn’t want to trip over one of the dogs as he got older, according to The Express. And Susan’s last offspring, Willow, died in 2018. The King and the Corgi. WPA Pool / Pool / Getty Images The Queen left behind four dogs when she died: two Pembroke Welsh corgis, a corgi-dachshund mix known as a dorgi, and a cocker spaniel. Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York are inheriting the two corgis, according to the BBC. The Queen’s funeral will take place on Monday 19 September at Westminster Abbey.
