Lupo was bred from Ella, a dog owned by Michael and Carole Middleton, the parents of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. He is a working-type English Cocker Spaniel. Lupo was born in a litter just prior to Christmas 2011, and was given to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who at first denied owning the dog to the media. His name was finally divulged after the Duchess of Cambridge visited Oxford and told Abubakr Hussain, a child at Rose Hill Primary School.
Origin of name
The name "Lupo" is from the Italian word for wolf and derived from Latin. It was reported that the Duchess has named the dog after the family of her paternal great grandmother, Olive Christiana Middleton née Lupton; the Lupton family crest has wolves on it. The dog continued to accompany the Duchess of Cambridge while her husband was deployed with the Royal Air Force to the Falkland Islands, and the pair appeared on the front cover of Hello magazine. While the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were awaiting the birth of their first child, they relocated to the Duchess' family home in Berkshire, along with Lupo. While there, the media reported that he managed to get his head trapped in a set of gates, requiring the local fire brigade to be called out. A spokesperson from the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service explained that "The special unit from Reading was dispatched along with an appliance from the nearest station, Newbury. Our crew got to the manor but were told as they arrived at the gates that the dog, which had got its head stuck, had been freed just a few moments earlier." Lupo was used to select the name of the Duke and Duchess' first child; they scattered pieces of paper with various names on the floor with the dog stopping at George. Following the birth of Prince George of Cambridge, Lupo was featured in one of the first official photographs. He was subsequently featured in a family portrait with the Duke and Duchess and Prince George in March 2014. He did not travel with his owners on their tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2014.
Cultural influences
have attributed the raised profile and interest in English Cocker Spaniels to Lupo. There was an increase of 50% in the searches on their "Find A Puppy" website in the months following the Royal couple's announcement of their ownership of Lupo. This increased interest has also had the effect of an increase in thefts of English Cocker Spaniels. Aby King is signed to a four-book deal to write about the fictional adventures of Lupo for children. She was inspired following walks in Kensington Palace Gardens with her own Cocker Spaniel, and the death of her fiancé. The first book is called The Adventures of Lupo the Royal Dog: The Secret of Windsor Castle and was released in September 2014.
