Here is a funny picture from President Obama’s visit to Buckingham Palace. The president came to London with a huge convoy of cars to carry him and his advisers around – plenty of tyres for a dog to pee against, then…. But yesterday the presidential car was parked in the wrong spot at Buck house. It was blocking the route that the Queen’s Corgi use to for their afternoon walk. One of the courtiers, leading four of the Queen’s Corgis, called President Obama’s driver to move the reinforced Cadillac when he found it was blocking the garden entrance. Nice to know the dogs were not forgotten in all the fuss.

The Queen has always had Corgis as pets, but they are not such a popular breed now in the UK as they were some years ago. They are an example of dogs that have been bred with very short legs and a tendency to gain weight. I hope the new Kennel Club rules will help put an end to this practice: for the dogs already suffering, perhaps there will soon be a diet pill that works to make their lives more comfortable.