Page 86 - All About History - Issue 59-17

One’s Edward VII poses

best with his beloved dog
for a photograph
Caesar circa 1905

Written by Jessica Leggett
friend

From cats and dogs to orangutans

and elephants, meet history’s
best-loved royal pets

here is nothing quite like the bond
between humans and their pets
and rulers are no exception.
Throughout history they can be seen
T with their loyal companions stood
their side. For many of these people, their pets
offered the unconditional love, affection and
loyalty that they might have struggled to find
elsewhere due to their positions.
Many of these stories are heartwarming and,
in some cases, offer up different perspectives on
historical figures. Histories of Queen Victoria are
often dominated by the focus on her marriage
to Prince Albert and the four decades she
spent mourning his death. Yet her childhood
relationship with Dash, her cherished Cavalier
King Charles Spaniel, highlights the plight of
a lonely, isolated young girl who only had her
beloved dog for a companion. Victoria’s love for
pets continued for the rest of her life and she was
known to own goats, parrots and even a donkey
among other animals. It was the start of a long
love affair with animals for the British royal family.
Of course, there are also times where the term
‘pet’ is used very loosely when it comes to rulers
and the animals they keep. Ivan IV of Russia,
commonly remembered as Ivan the Terrible, was
a brutal and paranoid man. Historical accounts of
his life often say that he owned “pet bears” but his
relationship with them was hardly one of loyalty
or affection. Ivan deliberately starved his bears so
that they were ready for their next meal, which
was usually a prisoner that he would have thrown
into their den — hardly an example of the caring
attachment that the term conjures up.
There are many examples throughout history
and here are seven special relationships between
pets and their powerful owners.
“Their pets offered the unconditional

love, affection and loyalty that they might
have struggled to find elsewhere”

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