Prince William and Kate get a Dog and join Grandma Queens love for man's best friend but the name remains a mystery

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have welcomed a new addition to their family -  an adorable three-month old puppy.

The couple acquired the male cocker spaniel in early December and have been happily settling him in at their rented farmhouse in North Wales.

Remarkably, however, William and Kate have given palace aides strict instructions not to publicly reveal the name of their pet, arguing that it is a ‘private’ matter.

‘He is a private pet and they do not want his name to be made public although the couple are happy to confirm that they do, indeed, have a new dog,’ a spokesman at St James’s Palace, the couple’s London headquarters, intoned.

Royal sources say the black pup is ‘a few months old’ and comes from a litter bred by Kate’s mother, Carole Middleton, who adores the breed. 

‘I don’t know whether the Middleton family dog is a boy or a girl, but the Duke and Duchess’s puppy is the result of the family dog breeding with one belonging to another breeder,’ said an aide.

The new dog is the couple’s first together and replaces Prince William’s black labrador, Widgeon, who died about two years ago.

Over the years, the Royal Family have embraced dogs as their favoured pets.

Formal portraits from the 17th century onwards show kings, queens and their children happily posing with their beloved animals, from pugs to greyhounds, King Charles spaniels to corgis. 

Some pets have even merited their own portraits, and, as in many households, were considered very much members of the family.

Prince William’s black labrador, Widgeon, died about two years ago (left, stock picture) but now he has acquired a male cocker spaniel with wife Kate

When Queen Victoria’s beloved collie, Noble, died at Balmoral in 1887, he was buried in the grounds of the castle and given his own gravestone, which read: 

'Noble by name by nature noble too 

Faithful companion sympathetic true

His remains are interred here'

A terrier named Caesar belonging to King Edward VII was given even greater status when, having outlived the king, he walked behind His Majesty’s coffin in the funeral procession.

The current Queen is, of course, associated with the corgi. 

The breed was introduced to the Royal Family by her father, King George VI, in 1933 when he bought a corgi called Dookie from a local kennels.

For her eighteenth birthday, The Queen was given a corgi named Susan from whom numerous successive dogs were bred. 

Some corgis were mated with dachshunds (most notably Pipkin, who belonged to Princess Margaret) to create ‘dorgis’.

At present, The Queen owns three corgis, Monty, Willow and Holly and three dorgis, Cider, Candy and Vulcan, who travel with her everywhere, with Her Majesty looking after them herself as much as possible.

Tradition: The current Queen is associated with the corgi

Other members of the Royal Family own dogs of various breeds. The Duchess of Cornwall owns two Jack Russell terriers, Tosca and Rosie, and recently acquired a rescue pup called Beth from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Spaniels are one of the oldest known breeds of dogs and are believed to have to come to the UK during Caesar’s invasion in 55 and 54 BC.

It is assumed they originated from Spain as the word spaniel is believed to have been derived from Hispania or possibly from the French phrase chiens de l’Espagnol (dog of Spain). 

Spaniels were initially bred to flush game out of dense brush but by the late 1600’s had become specialized into water and land breeds.

The difference between cocker and springer spaniels is that the former are smaller, more compact, dogs and can have marginally more placid temperaments.

As a breed cocker spaniels have friendly, affectionate, happy natures and considered to be wonderful family pets.

The arrival of the couple’s anonymous new pooch is particularly timely as he will help keep Kate, 30, company while her husband is posted to the Falkland Islands for six weeks.

Search and Rescue pilot William, 29, will fly out tonight with his Sea King crew on a routine deployment to the region, leaving his wife on her own.

She is expected to spend more time in London while he is away and will largely live with her pup at Kensington Palace, the couple’s London base.

Last night betting firm Ladbrokes were offering odds of 10/1 on the dog being called Charlie, 33/1 on Bouncer and 66/1 on Fenton, after the now world-famous hound seen chasing deer in Richmond Park, which became a YouTube sensation.

The pup has not been formally revealed in public yet but has been seen being walked by the couple on beaches near their Anglesey home.

The Middleton family already have a young female cocker spaniel, Ella, whom they acquired from a friend at just eight weeks old. It is not known whether Ella is the mother of Kate and William’s new pup, however.