Royal Pets Through History and the Art They Inspired
Kings, queens, and empresses have kept and adored pets for centuries, and many of those animals were painted, sculpted, and remembered nearly as prominently as their royal owners.
Charles II and the spaniel that bears his name
King Charles II of England was so devoted to his small spaniels that the breed we know today as the King Charles Spaniel takes its name directly from him. Court paintings from his reign frequently show these dogs close at hand, underscoring how central they were to his daily life, not just his public image.
His fondness for the breed was well known enough during his lifetime that it became something of a running theme in court gossip and art alike. The spaniels were said to have the run of the palace, appearing in rooms where formal etiquette would normally have kept animals well away.
Marie Antoinette and her beloved dogs
Marie Antoinette, queen of France before the French Revolution, was known for her genuine affection for small dogs, keeping several spaniels and pugs throughout her life at Versailles. Portraits and written accounts from her era reflect this attachment, portraying her pets as a comforting, personal presence amid the formality of court life.
This kind of documented royal devotion helped normalize the idea that even the most powerful people in Europe could be depicted with unguarded affection toward an animal. It offered a rare glimpse of ordinary tenderness within the otherwise highly formal, ceremonial world of the French royal court.
Queen Victoria's dogs and Landseer's brush
Queen Victoria kept numerous dogs throughout her reign and was a devoted patron of the painter Sir Edwin Landseer, commissioning him to paint several of her pets. These paintings helped shape the broader Victorian appetite for sentimental dog portraiture across British society.
Her documented attachment to her animals, including a beloved dog named Dash from her youth, made royal pet-keeping feel relatable to ordinary Victorian households, even as the artistic quality of these court commissions remained far beyond most families' reach. Newspapers and prints of the period happily covered these royal pets, feeding public curiosity.
A tradition that never really ended
Royal households have continued keeping and publicly celebrating their pets well into the modern era, and coverage of royal dogs and horses still draws public fascination today. The instinct to visually document a royal companion animal has simply moved from oil canvas to photograph and video.
That same instinct, wanting the world, or just your own family, to see and remember a beloved pet, is exactly what drives ordinary pet owners toward a custom portrait today, no throne required. It is one small pleasure of pet ownership that has never depended on rank or wealth.