Photos 1-3: The inspiration behind The Royal Pug Court is a 2008 SNL skit. One of our veterinarians started calling Bono “The King of Ireland” after seeing an SNL skit where Bono (lead singer of the band U2) was introduced as “The King of Ireland”. As a fun response, we quickly made up a royal costume for Bono, photographed him in his costume and sent the holiday card to his vet and signed it “Bono, The King of Ireland”. We later won best holiday themed costume (with handler/co-owner Steve) at the 2008 NCPC Pugtacular event in Walnut Creek, CA. (benefits pug health and rescue) and the costume was also featured in our Christmas card. This was Bono’s first costume and contest. He was just 6 months old at the time.
At the time we made Bono’s King of Ireland costume (Emerald King), we didn’t have much time to shop around for fabrics/furs and experiment with crown designs and materials. We had always wanted to do the royal costume how we envisioned it. Therefore, we went about doing just that. We also included others in our royal pug adventures.
Photos 4-6: On October 25, 2009, The Royal Pug Court made an appearance at the Pet Pride Day in San Francisco, CA. (benefits Animal Care & Control in SF) where they participated in the parade and took 1st prize in the costume contest. We were very impressed with the scale of the event and are very honored. This was a very big event with celebrity judges and MC, all-breed costume contest with hundreds of entries and people coming from all over the SF Bay Area. The Royal Pug Court that day included: King Bono (The Sun King), Earl Blue, Court Jester Roxy, Queen Wootoria (Ruby Queen, with owner Lisa) and Princess Mandarin (Pearl Princess, with owner Gayle). We all had a great time and the weather was perfect!
Photo 7: Roxy, Blue and Bono all got royal costume upgrades and the trio became “The Royal Pug Court of Pugtopia”. To celebrate, on August 8, 2010 King Bono (Tanzanite King), Queen Roxybeth (Golden Queen) and Lord Blue (Black Lord) had a royal photo shoot amongst the vineyards. More photos of the trio are included in the portfolio section of our website.
Photo 8: On August 14, 2010, The Royal Pug Court of Pugtopia made their debut at the Pugs of August Soiree in Hillsborough, CA. where they won 1st place in the costume contest.
Photo 9: Later that year, on October 16, 2010, Princess Kathmandu (Rose Princess) was crowned and to celebrate, she joined The Royal Pug Court of Pugtopia at the Adobe Creek Center Fall Festival in Petaluma, CA. where they participated in the parade and took 1st and 2nd place in the costume contest.
Photos 10-12: The royals were spotted in several places for Halloween 2010. First off at the 2010 Pug-o-ween event in Lodi (benefits pug rescue) where The Royal Pug Court of Pugtopia won 1st place in the group homemade category. Then back-to-back wins for Queen Wootoria (Ruby Queen, with owner Lisa, photo from Lisa) for “Cutest Costume” at the Dog Bone Alley Pet Boutique costume contest in Alameda, CA. and Princess Kat (Rose Princess, with owner Candida, photo by Michelle Lee) won “Most Graceful” at the Farley’s Pet Parade in San Francisco, CA.
Photo 13: By the end of 2010, we crowned another royal. It was King Leo’s turn. To commemorate the event, the royals gathered for a reunion at the NCPC Pugtacular event in Walnut Creek, CA. (benefits pug health and rescue). The royals won in several costume categories that year. 2nd and 3rd in the single non-holiday theme, 1st in the group non-holiday theme and for the “3 Kings” category…we are very honored! After, we gathered the royals for a reunion photo. The Royal Pug Court that day included: Princess Kat (Rose Princess, with owner Candida), King Bono (Tanzanite King), Lord Blue (Black Lord), King Leo (Sapphire King, with owner Elaine), Queen Roxy (Golden Queen) and Queen Wootoria (Ruby Queen, with owner Lisa). It was a very memorable event.
Photo 14: In 2012, Buster, the new “Sun King” (owner: Ashley, photo from Ashley), made his debut in his holiday greeting card.
Photos 15-17: Shortly after, on January 26, 2013, King Rio and Princess Tula (she was a stand in model for Lili in the fashion show) won in one of the categories in the Golden Gate Kennel Club Fashion Show in San Francisco, CA. King Rio (Tyrian Purple King, with owner Harold) and Princess Tula (Diamond Princess, with owner Poul) practiced in their costumes and were flawless in their royal walk down the red carpet.
Photos 18-20: In mid 2013 we crowned 3 more royals from the Land Down Under. Jak (Tsavorite King, owner: Felicity), became our first black pug royal. Also, King JJ and Princess Jeorgie (Amethyst King and Garnet Princess, owner: Julia. Photo from Julia) became our 1st non-pug royals.
Photo 21: The East Coast royals, King Tug and Queen Twinkie (Amethyst King and Red Jasper Queen, owner: Barbara, photographer: Tom Weigand), made their debut in their holiday greeting card on 12-23-13.
Photos 22-23: On May 17, 2014 The Royal Pug Court gathered for a day of sport (the running of the pugs in the garden), catching up on recent events in their kingdoms, feasting and posing for a royal portrait. This time, King Diego and King Blue made their debut. The Royal Pug Court that day included: King Bono (Tanzanite King), Princess Kat (Rose Princess, with owner Candida), King Diego (Topaz King, with owner Lisa), Queen Wootoria (Ruby Queen, with owner Lisa), King Blue (Cobalt King) and Queen Roxybeth (Golden Queen).
Photo 24: In September of 2014, Queen Roxybeth (Golden Queen) was included in the book Pugs in Costumes…a cute little book featuring a lot of adorable/funny photos of pugs in their costumes.
Photos 25-26: On February 12, 2016 King Diego made a very royal appearance. A gala leave taking for the outgoing director of ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, Michelle Follett, included the attendance of His Royal Highness!
Thank you to all of the royals and loyal owners for your years of service, amusement and support. We are forever grateful for the wonderful memories!
Here is a sampling of links of the royals found across the web:
Due to the long Memorial Day weekend this Third Thursday Throwback blog entry was delayed one week.
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