You and your partner may have more in common with the royals than you think.
When it comes to sleeping arrangements, every couple has their unique preference. Maybe you opt for the “Scandinavian sleep method,” in which you and your partner have two separate duvets in order to avoid those midnight fights over who’s hogging the covers. Or maybe you have partaken in a “sleep divorce” and prefer to get your shut-eye in separate beds and bedrooms. However, if you find yourself choosing to snuggle up next to your partner with your pet in between you night after night, you officially have the same sleeping arrangement as the most famous royal couple in the world: Prince William and Kate Middleton.
In a recent outing, during which William paid a visit to Duchy College Stoke Climsland in Callington, Cornwall, he had a conversation with a local resident, Louise Harland, who was there with her dog, Jacks, according to Hello!. The two quickly bonded over their pets—with the Prince of Wales also sharing a surprising detail about the role that his dog plays in his and Kate’s marriage. “[William] said that his little dog sleeps on the bed with them at night, with him and Kate,” Harland reportedly told Hits Radio Cornwall, according to Hello!.
“[He was] absolutely in love with my little dog. He asked what breed he was and he’s never met one of those breeds—he’s a Cockerjack—so he’s a little bit of a unique combination.”
William and Kate got their dog, Orla, after their first one, Lupo, passed away in 2020. “Very sadly last weekend our dear dog, Lupo, passed away,” the pair wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “He has been at the heart of our family for the past nine years and we will miss him so much.” Kate’s brother, James Middleton, gave the royal family Orla in 2022 (Orla is the son of James’s dog, Luna). “I am sad to see you go, and yes I might cry but it will be with happiness as each of your new homes are bursting with love,” James wrote in an Instagram post with Luna and her offspring, after sending Orla along to his sister’s family.
“You might be scared at first, thats ok. Just be yourself and you will never understand how much happiness you will bring to your new families and all the people you meet. Make me proud, & remember to write.”
Even though Orla may be the only pet nestled between the royals at night, they also have other animals at Windsor Castle. In a visit earlier this year to Woodgate Valley Urban Farm, William interacted with some of the property’s guinea pigs—and spoke about his own. “These guys are pretty cool,” he said, according to the New York Post. “We’ve got guinea pigs at home and they are not like this. I have to spend my life cleaning out the guinea pig cage because the children forget to do it. And then they run off because you have to handle them all the time, that’s why these ones are so calm.”
