Famous Pugs, Famous Pug Names and Famous Pug Owners

Famous Pugs and Famous Pug Owners

Royal Pugs and their Royal Owners

Queen Victoria's owned many Pugs, among which Basco (one of her favorites), Minka, Venus, Rooney, Olga, Fatima and Pedro, many of which came from her own breeding program. Rooney gave birth to Ayah, another royal house-Pug. Some of these Pugs became the 'nursery dogs'. For example, Basco (also known as Bosco) was the special pet of Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg.

Family group with Queen Victoria and one of her pugs, Balmoral, 1887
Unknown Photographer
The Royal Collection © 2008
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Prince Alexander of Battenberg
with Pug Basco, 1887
Photo by Gustav Mullins.
The Royal Collection © 2008
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Basco (see photo right) lived from 1877 to 1892 and was buried in Frogmore House Gardens in 1892. Note the likeness of Basco to William Horgarth's Pug in "The Painter and his Pug" (see Pugs in art).

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Famous Pugs (and Famous Pug Names)

The legendary Lamb and Moss who were stolen from the Emperor's palace in Peking and brought to England became famous as the parents of Click who allegedly became the foundation dog for many English and American lines.

Punch and Terry were the first well known Pugs of the Morrison lines, named after the famous breeder of the mid-19th century. The two Pugs who started the Willoughby lines, another famous breeder of that time, were named Mops and Nell (see: Pug appearance).

Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin owned two Pugs named Punch and Missy.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor owned many Pugs, probably eleven alltogether. Among the most famous ones were Dizzy (for Mr. Disraeli), Davy Crockett, Impy (for Emperor), Mr. Chu, Rufus, Gen Sengh, Winston, Minoru and Trooper. The majority of their Pugs were born in America, except for Masberk Disreali, Goldengleam Trooper and Normpug Black Minoru. One of the Duke's favorite Pugs, known as Diamond, always slept on the Duke's bed. One day, about two weeks before the Duke died, Diamond run away from home and came back just in time, on the very night the Duke passed away.

Pugs were also the beloved pet of French Queens and Kings' favorites. Marie-Antoinette, Louis XVI's wife, owned a Pug who went by the name 'Mops'. The Marquise de Pompadour, Louis XV's favorite, also owned a Pug, which she sent to Buffon (the famous naturalist) shortly before her death. Empress Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's wife, had a pug named Fortune.

According to the legend, a Pug named Pompey, saved Prince of Orange's life by alerting him in the middle of the night to the approaching Spanish troops, somewhere between1571 and 1573. The Pug became the favorite dog of the House of Orange and when William the Silent's great-grandson, William III of Orange, and his wife Mary came to England in 1688 they brought numerous Pugs with them. Their Pugs wore orange ribbons as collars to denote their connection with the House of Orange. King George III and his wife Charlotte of Mecklenburg also kept a great number of Pugs.

Princess Hedvig Sophia of Sweden, aunt of Catherine the Great, had at least sixteen Pugs.

Noble Hounds and Dear Companions
The Royal Photograph Collection
by Sophie Gordon,
Curator of the Royal Photograph Collection

This charming publication celebrates the important role played by dogs in the public and private lives of the Royal Family. Over 200 photos covering over 150 years present the Royal dogs in both formal studio portraits and as part of relaxed family groups. Most of the photographs come from private family albums and have never been published before.
More information from the Royal Collection website

More information from Amazon.com

Photos of the Royal Family courtesy of Mrs. Anne Marie Todaro
Press and Public Relations Officer, The Royal Collection

Famous Pug owners

Other famous Pug owners include: French author and philosopher Voltaire, George Eliot, and Sir Winston Churchill, whose Pug went by the name 'Pug'.

Tori Spelling & her Pug, Mimi LaRue
Winter 06-07 cover of

Modern Dog Magazine
The lifestyle magazine for urban dogs
and their companions
More information:

Celebrities and their Pugs

Jessica Alba & her Pugs Sid and Nancy
Fall 06 cover of Animal Fair

A lifestyle magazine
for animal lovers
More information:

Tori Spelling and Mimi LaRue
Jessica Alba with Sid and Nancy
Dennis Quaid and Pudgy

Other celebrities who own a Pug:
Billy Joel
Mickey Rourke
Chris Kirkpatrick
Paula Abdul
Genevieve Jones

The Queen also owned black Pugs, one of which was the famous Jacopo previously owned by Lady Brassey. Jacopo became
known as Brassey when he passed into royal ownership.

William III of Great-Britain (1650-1702), Prince of Orange, King of England, Scotland and Ireland and stadholder of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel and Drenthe, was born 8 days after his father, William II of Orange-Nassau (1626-1650), Prince of Orange and Count of Nassau, died.

William II was the son of Frederick Henry of Orange-Nassau (1584-1647) and the grand-son of William I the silent (1533-1584), which makes William III the great-grandson (and not the grandson) of William I. In 1677 William III married his cousin, Mary II Stuart (1662-1694), Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, who was the eldest surviving daughter of King James II of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Royal Dutch Genealogy

Royal British Genealogy

George I was the grandson of a grand-aunt of William III (on William III mother's side) who was also Mary II's grand-aunt. This grand-aunt was the sister of Charles I, grand-father of both William III and Mary II and son of James I Stuart.

George III, George I's great-grandson, was the grand-father of Queen Victoria. The Duke of Windsor, great-grandson of Queen Victoria and former King Eduard VIII, abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. As a result, his brother became King George VI and father of Queen Elisabeth II.

Women & Dogs:
A Personal History from Marilyn to Madonna
by Judith Watt (Author),
Peter Dyer (Creator)
More information:

Oliver was one of the pugs of the Italian fashion designer Valentino, after which he named one a his famous lines of cardigans and polo shirts.

Trump was one of the most famous and beloved pugs owned by the English artist William Hogarth (see Pugs in art), one of the most influential English artists of his time.

The first black Pug ever exhibited was named Jack Pratt. He was shown at the Maidenstone Show in 1886 by Lady Brassey. The two black Pugs to reallly come near up to the Standard were called Duke Beira and Chotee.

A Pug called Willie (William) became famous when he appeared as the companion dog of Gretchen Franklin in the BBC soap Eastenders.

Source: Valentino, the Last Emperor

A Pug called Willie (William) became famous when he appeared as the companion dog of Gretchen Franklin in the BBC soap Eastenders.