Related Articles
Though often seen as a stern and sensible figure in the Royal Family, Princess Anne does have a soft spot for her beloved dogs.
She has kept English Bull Terriers for decades and as a breed known for being active, one would think they were the perfect fit for the outdoorsy and sport-loving Princess Royal.
However, Anne’s dogs have gotten her into trouble more than once.
Most famously, her beloved Bull Terrier Dotty bit two children in 2002.
Anne became the first royal in more than a century to attend court, where she was convicted under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Dotty went on to attack a beloved corgi owned by Anne’s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. The pooch, named, Pharo, had to be put down.
More recently, in January last year, a royal insider claimed that one of Princess Anne’s bull terriers attacked a gamekeeper’s dog and bit its ear in a ‘frenzy’ during a Boxing Day pheasant shoot.
Princess Anne with her three English Bull Terriers at the Gatcombe Horse Trials in 2000
The princess leaving court with her husband Sir Timothy Laurence leaving East Berkshire Magistrates Court after her dog injured two children
Princess Anne walking with two of her dogs at Gatcombe Park in 2013
Over her lifetime Anne has owned several English Bull Terriers.
Eglantyne, originally named BP for ‘back pocket’ because of her distinctive brown patch on her back, was a Christmas present from Anne’s ladies-in-waiting in 1989.
Anne renamed the pooch after deciding that her name reminded her of Buckingham Palace.
Her new name was inspired by Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of one of Save the Children, one of Anne’s favourite charities.
She was loved dearly by Anne and even featured in her first wedding anniversary photos of her and second husband Sir Timothy Laurence in 1993.
But in 1991, Eglantyne attacked a smaller terrier in Great Windsor Park.
The Princess Royal driving with one of her beloved pets looking out of the car window in 2019
Anne walking two of her dogs during horse trials at Gatcombe Park in 1998
One of Anne’s bull terriers looks out of her Land Rover Discovery during horse trials in 2018
The pooch reportedly bit the neck of the other dog before being pulled away by Princess Anne.
Eglantyne went on to allegedly bite a spectator during horse trials held at Gatcombe Park, Anne’s estate.
Dotty then landed Anne in legal trouble in 2002. Anne was taken to court with her husband Timothy Laurence after her bull terrier bit two children.
The Daily Mail reported at the time how Anne was walking Dotty and two of her other dogs when the incident happened.
One of the dogs attacked two boys, aged seven and 12 years old, in Windsor Great Park on April 1 that year.
They were taken to hospital and given anti-tetanus injections but neither needed stitches.
Charges were dropped against her husband as it was accepted that Anne was the owner.
She was fined £500 and ordered to pay compensation to the two boys.
Princess Anne stands by one of her dogs in her car at Gatcombe Park in 2018
Anne enjoys a walk with her bull terrier at Gatcombe Park horse trials
Newspaper coverage in the Daily Mail at the time of the court case in 2002
The charge sheet from Sough Magistrates Court, where Princess Anne was summoned after her dog bit two children in Windsor Great Park
It was the first time a senior member of the royal family had been convicted of a criminal offence.
Dotty then made the front page of the Daily Mail on Christmas Eve in 2003 after she savaged one of the Queen’s treasured corgis.
It was reported at the time how Dotty had ‘launched a ferocious attack within moments of arriving at Sandringham’.
Pharo was attacked ‘with such savagery’ that his legs were broken, according to insiders at the time.
Unfortunately the Queen was recovering from a knee operation at the time and could not rush to the incident, instead she used a lift originally installed for the Queen Mother.
An emergency vet was called but Pharo was so badly injured that he was put down the next day.
Princess Anne on a royal shoot with her dog at Sandringham in Norfolk, 2007
Anne’s dog Dotty made the front page of the Daily Mail on Christmas Eve in 2003 after she savaged one of the Queen’s treasured corgis to death
A source who described the incident in January last year told how, although both dogs survived, there was ‘a lot of blood and a lot of screaming’.
‘It took a while to get the dog off the ear because it had really sunk its teeth in,’ the royal insider told The Sun.
‘Everyone was OK in the end but the atmosphere was extremely tense afterwards for some time,’ they added.
‘A good few people questioned what if it had been Charlotte or George or any of the children instead of another dog?’
Source link
