Queen’s Platinum Jubilee: 6 photos that show her love of pets throughout the years

Queen Elizabeth has always been an avid rider. For her 96th birthday, the Royal Windsor Horse Show shared a photo taken just last month, of her with her two fell ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale. First staged in 1943, The Queen has attended every single Royal Windsor Horse Show since.

In this picture, the Queen meets adoptable dogs forming a 'Guard of Honour' as she arrives at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, in March 2015. Her Majesty opened the new state-of-the-art Mary Tealby Kennels at the home.

A huge part of the monarch’s role is to travel to various parts of England and the Commonwealth to attend events and meet important people! But like most dog lovers, the Queen likes to be accompanied by her adorable four-legged friends. Traveling is much more fun that way!

Up until quite recently, the Queen herself took her dogs out for walks every single day. In this picture, she is with a few of her beloved dogs at the Balmoral estate in 1971.

The Queen’s first Corgi, Susan, was given to her as an 18th birthday gift. Since then, she’s owned over 30 Corgis, two of which are shown in this photo.

Queen Elizabeth was raised around dogs. Her parents owned Corgis before she did! Here, at just 10 years old, she’s cuddling with one of her favourite dogs of all time, Dookie. Dookie was said to be « unquestionably the character of the Princesses’ delightful canine family, » as well as being, 'a born sentimentalist'.