DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And we are reporting on this news this morning - the end of a royal line at Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth's last pet corgi, Willow, has reportedly passed away from cancer at the age of 14.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
If you think this is a minor story, ask a pet owner. A palace source tells The Daily Mail the queen is devastated.
GREENE: And she has special reason to be because she has spent her entire reign with a royal line of corgis. And Willow was the last, the last of 15 generations of corgis descended from a dog which then-Princess Elizabeth received when she was 18. Her dogs were a trademark. They were featured in the Netflix series "The Crown."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE CROWN")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As character) Oh, here they come, the dogs (laughter).
INSKEEP: And those who join the royal family have always had to meet the dogs. Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle told the BBC about her first encounter with them.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRINCE HARRY: And the corgis took to you straight away. I've spent the last 33 years being barked at. This one walks in, absolutely nothing.
MEGHAN MARKLE: Just laying on my feet during tea. It was very sweet.
PRINCE HARRY: Just wagging tails. And I was just like, ugh (ph).
GREENE: Tails, yes, there are multiple royal dogs.
INSKEEP: Queen Elizabeth still has Vulcan and Candy, who are dorgies - combination dachshund and corgi. The dog is dead. Long live the dogs.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE BAND OF THE CORPS OF ROYAL ENGINEERS' "RULE BRITANNIA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.