A key question around Britain's royal succession was resolved on Sunday (11) when it emerged scandal-hit Prince Andrew and his ex-wife will look after Queen Elizabeth II's corgi dogs after her death.
The prince and his former spouse Sarah Ferguson will take on Muick and Sandy following the queen's death at Balmoral on Thursday aged 96, Andrew's spokesman said.
Andrew -- the queen's third son and often reported to be her favourite -- and Ferguson had given Muick and Sandy to the queen as a gift.
The pets were a comfort to the queen while she was at Windsor Castle during the coronavirus pandemic, her dresser Angela Kelly said.
The fate of the two corgis -- the latest in a long line of more than 30 of the sandy, short-legged dogs throughout Elizabeth's reign -- had been a mystery.
Muick joined the royal family at the start of 2021 along with a so-called "dorgi", a cross between a corgi and a dachshund, called Fergus.
Fergus died after just five months and was later replaced with Sandy, a new corgi puppy from Andrew and his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, for the queen's official 95th birthday.
The corgi gifts came in the same year that Prince Andrew stepped back from his public duties due to the scandal over his relationship with convicted US paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In February, Andrew settled a sexual abuse lawsuit in the United States with an Epstein victim, having previously been stripped of his honorary military titles.
He and Ferguson married in a highly publicised wedding in 1986 and divorced ten years later, but have remained on good terms and share a home near Windsor Castle.
FILE PHOTO: A general view shows British Steel's Scunthorpe plant, in Scunthorpe, northern England, Britain, March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Dominic Lipinski
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. (Representational image: iStock)
FBU chief raises concern over rise in racist online posts by union members
THE FIRE Brigades Union (FBU) and other trade unions are increasingly concerned about a rise in racist and bigoted online comments by their own members and officials, according to Steve Wright, the FBU’s new general secretary, speaking to the Guardian.
Wright said internal inquiries have revealed dozens of cases involving members using racist slurs or stereotypes, often aimed at asylum seekers.
He said similar issues were reported in other unions, prompting a joint campaign to counter false narratives around immigration and race promoted by far-right groups online.
“People with far-right views are becoming more brazen in what they do on social media, and I’ve witnessed it with my own union around disciplinary cases and the rhetoric of some of our own members,” Wright said to the newspaper.
He added, “Some of our members and sometimes our reps have openly made comments which are racist and bigoted. In my time in the fire service, that has gone up.”
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. A formal statement addressing far-right narratives will be launched at the union’s annual conference in Blackpool next month.
Wright cited the influence of social media and figures like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage as factors contributing to these incidents. “It feels like an itch that we’ve got to scratch,” he said.
The FBU barred a former official last year for allegedly endorsing racist content on X, including posts from Britain First and Tommy Robinson.
Wright also warned that the union could strike if the government moves to cut frontline fire services.