Are You Being Served? How Queen Makes a Royal Meal of Her Dogs' Dinners

The Queen's daily routine includes pouring the gravy on her beloved corgis' specially prepared fillet steaks and chicken breasts as the royal dogs sit for their supper, according to a new biography of Britain's monarch.

Footmen are said to deliver the meals at the appointed hour of 5pm sharp, with the repast commencing once the Queen gives the magic word.

At her Brittanic majesty's request, the pets then to set to work.

To call it a dog's dinner would fall short of doing the meal justice. However, the ingredients of the gravy have not been disclosed.

The Queen's love of her Welsh Corgis dates from the time, in the 1930s, when her father King George brought some home, royal folklore holds.

The details were revealed by Brian Hoey, a royal biographer, in his book, Pets by Royal Appointment, to be published this week.

Hoey claims that one of the Queen's dress-makers told him the monarch carried a magnet when she had clothes fitted, using it to comb the room for stray pins and needles "so the dogs don't hurt their paws".

The biographer disclosed that the dogs are never served tinned food, and must await the royal assent before they tuck in to their meats.

'The royal command'

"Then she, and only she, gives the royal command for them to begin eating. It's as precise as that," said Hoey.

Hoey goes on to reveal that the Queen occasionally favoured homeopathy to traditional vetinary medicine when her dogs had fallen sick.

"I was told that on at least one occasion, a homeopathic remedy was given after the Queen argued how much they have helped her," he said.

As young girls, Princess Elizabeth and her sister Margaret would feed their pet corgi Dookie by hand from a dish held by a footman, the Sunday Times reported.

Previously the family had favoured shih tzus, the newspaper said.

Hoey's revelations are not the first time the Queen's concern that her dogs get good meals has been noted.

In August 2011, she was said to have reacted furiously after finding out her corgis had been fed frozen and reheated meals.

She was reportedly moved to "have words" with her catering staff when the matter came to her attention.

However, the dogs do not live entirely in a domain of unspoiled bliss, as it was revealed that the Duke of Edinburgh cannot stand the animals.

The Duke "loathes [corgis] ... because they yap too much", said Hoey, whose books include Princess Anne's official biography.