A history of royalty seen from floor level: the untold story of royal pets throughout the ages.

Katharine MacDonogh has discovered a wealth of untapped historical material in this important and original study of royal obsession.

The Maharajah of Junagadh spent GBP22,000 in the 1920s on the marriage of his favourite dog Roshanara to a golden retriever called Bobby. Our own Queen Mother has a particular dislike of pugs, perhaps not coincidentally the favoured dog of Mrs Simpson. The Empress Josephine's pugs slept near her on cashmere shawls.

After her coronation, Queen Victoria hurried home, removed her state robes and gave her dog Dash a bath. Her own grand-daughter had the combings from a brown poodle knitted into a large shawl. The first 'dorgis' are the result of cross-breeding one of the Queen's corgis, Tiny, with Princess Margaret's dachshund, Pipkin.

This revealing and bizarre history is lavishly illustrated throughout in colour and black and white.