This scenario of three of the Queen’s Royal Corgis having escaped, and found roaming through Christchurch City, was imortilised in bronze, to mark the 50th jubilee of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II in 2003.
Originally placed about 50m away on the corner of High and Tuam St. One corgi was stolen after the February 2011 earthquake. So the remaining two were removed intil the sculptor, Dave Marshall, could make a recreation of the missing corgi from scratch. They returmed to this location in 2014 and shifted to the current Poplar Lane location in May 2022.
Corgi's were chosen as a 'fun' way to mark the Queen's anniverary as her lifelong love of corgis was a much a part of her as her crown, bright suits or royal wave.
The Queen's love of corgis started in 1933 as a seven year old, when her father gifted her and her little sister Margaret a corgi puppy named Dookie.
Princess Elizabeth was then given Susan, a Pembroke Corgi on her eighteenth birthday. Susan was so beloved that she joined the Queen on her honeymoon. Susan was not always well behaved with a penchant for nipping at ankles, and was known to have bitten a policeman, a sentry, a detective and the royal clock winder.
Susan however was to start a royal lineage of corgis that would be companions for Queen Elizabeth for over 70 years. More than 14 generations with over thirty of Susan's descendants of Corgis and Dorgis (Corgi - Dachshund cross) were owned by Queen Elizabeth.
On her death the Queen had two corgis, Candy and Muick; a dorgi called Sandy and a cocker spaniel named Lissy. Prince Andrew has adopted these dogs.
While official numbers have never been released on how many corgis the Queen had at any one time it is known that in 1981, the Queen flew to a holiday in Scotland with 13 corgis.
Every corgi she has owned lived a royal life - sleeping in a puffy bed and eating a meal prepared by the head chef. The Queen never bound her dogs by royal protocols; only the corgis were allowed to cross in front of the Queen's way, they always walked ahead, jumped and did what they wanted to do. Even Prince Philip has always stayed a step behind her.
The royal corgis reputation for being naughty certainly didn’t hurt their popularity. They’ve been immortalized in statues, starred in a James Bond skit, appeared in books and on magazine covers, posed for portraits and even got their own animated movie.
To achieve this virtual please send the following information to the CO (please do not post in your log);
1) What dog society supported the building of these statues?
2) What is the date on the last line of the plaque?
3) What form of transport do these runaway corgis need to watch out for?
4) Post a photo of yourself or something with your geocaching name with these naughty trio.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.