Animal welfare charity Battersea today welcomed its Royal Patron, Her Majesty The Queen, to their London centre for the official opening of a special new dog garden.
To mark her first visit to Battersea’s London centre since 2016, Her Majesty was greeted by a very special guard of honour featuring Battersea dogs Bertie, Phoenix, Bella and Dipsy, as well as the charity’s staff, volunteers and supporters.
During her visit, the Queen received a special tour of the new dog garden accompanied by Battersea’s Chief Executive Peter Laurie and Lead Horticulturalist Dawn Richards who explained how this garden would be used as a special space for dogs to play, train, exercise or simply snooze in the shade. Battersea dogs Olive and Mertle were more than happy to take the garden for a test run and play a quick game of fetch with their special guest.
The dog garden, designed by Monty Don and Jamie Butterworth, had originally been created for the Chelsea Flower Show, before being kindly donated by the Royal Horticultural Society and BBC Radio 2 to Battersea to live on at their London centre.
Once Her Majesty had spoken with Battersea gardening volunteers, Monty Don and others involved with the garden’s development, she met with a range of the charity’s supporters including Battersea Ambassadors Amanda Holden, David Gandy, Dame Jacqueline Wilson DBE, Sarah Fisher and Sue Perkins, before officially opening the dog garden and unveiling a plaque to commemorate the special day.
Battersea’s Chief Executive, Peter Laurie, said; “It was an absolute honour to welcome our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen, to Battersea and introduce her to our dedicated staff, volunteers and supporters. During the visit, Her Majesty officially opened our new dog garden – a sensory space that the dogs in our care will benefit from tremendously. With so many animals arriving at our centres each year, it is vital that we create calm and enriching environments where they can exercise, train and relax.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have a Patron that has been a longstanding supporter of Battersea and who understands the importance of the work that rescues do. Today was a wonderful opportunity to talk with Her Majesty about the work we are doing at our centres and further afield, as well as share our ambitions for the future to help millions of dogs and cats worldwide.”
The new garden will be one of many spaces at Battersea’s London centre where staff and volunteers can spend time with the thousands of dogs that come through the charity’s gates each year, many of which arrive at Battersea with challenging behavioural or medical issues that the charity’s expert teams will then work tirelessly on. Last year the charity took in 2,766 dogs and 2,454 cats at its three centres in London, Kent and Windsor, including 241 animals transferred from other rescues around the UK.
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Notes to editors
• Her Majesty The Queen was officially announced as Battersea’s Royal Patron on 1 February 2017. However Her Majesty’s association with Battersea dates back to October 2010 when she visited the charity’s London centre to open the new cattery and commemorate Battersea’s 150th anniversary.
• Her Majesty has rehomed three dogs from Battersea, Beth in August 2011, Bluebell in September 2012 and Moley in 2025. Sadly, Her Majesty had to say goodbye to Beth in November 2024, when her beloved pet passed away.
• At Battersea we offer our love and expert care to dogs and cats who need us by rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals at our centres, and by sharing our knowledge and resources with other organisations around the world. We do this because we want to help every dog and cat, everywhere.
• We also helped thousands more through campaigning work, supporting other rescues and animal welfare advocates, and sharing knowledge and advice with pet owners.
• Battersea has three centres based in London; Old Windsor, Berkshire; and Brands Hatch, Kent.
• To find out more visit our website or follow Battersea on X @battersea_ , Instagram @battersea, Facebook facebook.com/Battersea and TikTok @battersea.