Inside Queen Camilla’s candy relationship along with her ‘very particular’ rescue canine Beth after her ‘a lot liked companion’ handed away
Queen Camilla has been left heartbroken after her beloved rescue dog Beth passed away.
Her Majesty, 77, adopted Beth from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, in South London, in 2011 and fellow Jack Russell terrier Bluebell joined the family the following year.
Buckingham Palace revealed yesterday that the pet had passed away. It is understood Beth had an untreatable tumour and had to be put down at the weekend.
The Queen will be devastated at the news, as she had a very close bond with the ‘very special dog’ – like Queen Elizabeth II, who was famed for her love of corgis.
‘A sad farewell to Beth, The Queen’s much-loved companion from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home who brought such joy, whether on walkies, helping on official duties, or curled up by the fire’, a spokesman said yesterday.
Over the years, Camilla paid tribute to her pets by having them embroidered on her Coronation gown, gave them her pearl necklaces for a magazine cover, and was joined by Beth in a picture posted by the royal family for her 75th birthday in 2022.
Meanwhile, an unearthed clip from the BBC One royal documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year released in December 2023 highlighted Camilla’s sweet bond with her dog.
In the documentary, which followed Charles’s first year as King, the royal couple went for a casual dog walk with Camilla dressed in jeans and a jacket and Charles in a tweed jacket and tie.
Queen Camilla has been left heartbroken after her beloved rescue dog Beth passed away – and the pair shared a sweet bond
The King and Queen were seen playing with Beth and Bluebell during a stroll at Balmoral Estate in Scotland.
Camilla said: ‘You absolutely love Beth, don’t you’, to which her husband responded: ‘Yes I do, she’s very special. She’s the funniest dog ever.’
Camilla explained: ‘The nice thing is when you come back from those tours, there’s always a nice welcome from the dogs. They’re always pleased to see you and they never answer you back!’
Camilla said someone had sent her a picture of Beth at Battersea Dogs Home before she was adopted.
‘She had a look on her face saying ‘please, somebody take me,” Camilla recalled.
‘I think somebody just turned her in, she wasn’t wanted. And it’s safe to say, she’s fallen on her paws!’
Charles and Camilla then giggled as Beth played with her ball and ate some grass, with Charles indulgently scoffing: ‘What are you doing?’
When Camilla was asked how she disciplines Beth she admitted: ‘I don’t really. We try, but Terriers do their own thing!
Camilla even paid tribute to her pets by having them embroidered on her Coronation gown
There were two gold terrier pups embroidered onto the gown to represent Charles and Camilla’s rescue dogs Beth and Bluebell
Camilla was joined by Beth in a picture posted by the royal family for her 75th birthday in 2022
An unearthed clip from the BBC One royal documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year released in December 2023 highlighted Camilla’s care for Beth
‘Never work with children or dogs, they always say. I think they’ve got a point!’
They then idly chatted about how Beth ate a mouse last time they had been up there and remark how their grandchildren love to bounce on a rickety old bridge over the river that crosses their garden.
The Queen Consort said previously that the dogs adore children and are allowed ‘nearly everywhere’, but are not allowed to sleep on the bed, the BBC reported.
She said: ‘Along I went to Battersea, and Beth appeared and she had just been moved from pillar to post and dumped.
‘We thought it would be nice for her to have a friend. They found [Bluebell] two or three weeks later wandering about in woods, no hair on her, covered in sores, virtually dead.
‘And they nursed her back to life and her hair grew again. She’s very sweet, but a tiny bit neurotic, shall we say.’
For Camilla’s 75th birthday photo in 2022, Beth even featured in the photo, posing for the camera in the gardens of her Wiltshire home.
The model dogs were also featured on the cover of Country Life in 2022, even wearing Camilla’s pearl necklaces.
In the documentary, which followed Charles’s first year as King, the royal couple went for a casual dog walk
King Charles III and Queen Camilla (then the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall) holding her dogs Beth (left) and Bluebell in 2015
Camilla with Beth at Highgrove as an ITV documentary charting her guest editorship of Country Life in 2022 – her dogs also appeared on the magazine cover
Beth, along with Bluebell, was so loved by Camilla that she even featured on the Queen’s coronation gown, with goldwork motifs of the two dogs embroidered onto the historic dress which Camilla wore to be crowned.
The bespoke dress has the names of her two children, Tom and Laura, along with those of her grandchildren, Gus, Freddy, Louis, Eliza and Lola embroidered in.
There were also two gold terrier pups embroidered onto the gown to represent Charles and Camilla’s rescue dogs Beth and Bluebell.
During yesterday’s announcement, the Royal Family shared a series of candid pictures of the King and Queen with Beth, including footage of the Jack Russell helping with an official opening.
Camilla took Beth along to compete in a loyalty duel with the late TV presenter and dog-lover Paul O’Grady and his dog Sausage at Battersea’s Brands Hatch centre in Kent in 2022 for the filming of the hit show For The Love Of Dogs.
The royal pet managed to ignore toys and treats to run back to her owner to win the trial.
Queen Camilla with her rescue dog Beth, who has died. It is understood Beth had an untreatable tumour and had to be put down at the weekend
King Charles rubs noses with Jack Russell Beth
The Queen, Beth and late star and fellow dog lover Paul O’Grady with Beth and Bluebell
Beth made a number of appearances at royal engagements at Camilla’s side over the years.
In 2020, Beth helped Camilla unveil a plaque as they opened new kennels for the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
A sausage was tied around a rope attached to a curtain covering the sign commemorating Camilla’s visit, with the then-duchess laughing as Beth grabbed the treat to pull the drape away.
Camilla is patron of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and O’Grady, who died last year, was a long-time ambassador for the animal welfare charity.
The Queen gave a home to Beth in 2011 when she was a three-month-old unwanted puppy, and Bluebell in 2012 after she was found wandering alone in a London park with a painful skin condition.
In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live in 2020, Camilla – who has owned several generations of Jack Russell puppies – opened up about her love for her beloved dogs.
She told host Emma Barnett: ‘The nice thing about dogs is you can sit them down, you could have a nice long conversation, you could be cross, you could be sad and they just sit looking at you wagging their tail.’
When Camilla first adopted Bluebell, a spokesperson for the royal said the dog had had a ‘really awful’ start in life.
They said: ‘She was just four weeks old when she was found by a member of the public in quite a bad way. She had lost a lot of hair and her skin was pink and sore. The Duchess was delighted to take her on.’
A source close to Camilla added: ‘Beth is a delightful dog and has been wonderful with the Duchess’s five young grand-children – Bluebell is a very welcome addition to the family.’
Pictured: Queen Camilla picking up her nine-week-old Jack Russell terrier rescue Bluebell, with Beth, in December 2012
Camilla was treated like any other potential owners, however, and had to pay a £105 rehoming fee which covers the charity’s costs as well as microchipping, initital vaccinations, flea and worming treatments and a new collar, identification tag and lead.
Battersea does not receive any government funding and is totally reliant on publication bequests and donations.
The news of Beth’s passing came several days after the Queen returned to public duties following a chest infection.
