Millionaire donates 'Windsor Castle' pet palace to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home

A pooch palace designed to look like Windsor Castle has been donated to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home based in Old Windsor.

The £5k pooch palace was donated by West Yorkshire millionaire Susan Crossland who had it made for her dog Archie to celebrate the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May.

Susan, who won £1.2m in the lottery 10 years ago said:  “Archie has had literally hours and hours of summer fun in the pooch palace.

“We decorated the replica castle with Royal Standard flags, bunting and even a red carpet. He loved the Royal wedding celebrations in his very own castle but I felt the time had come to give other pooches the chance to play in it.

“It is just too good to be just for Archie – I want other dogs to enjoy it and could think of no-where better than Battersea. This is a charity which I think is fantastic and does amazing things to give animals new, happy lives.”

The pet palace resembles the King George IV Gate at Windsor Castle and took 244 hours to create.

Kaye Mughal, Centre Manager at Battersea Old Windsor said: “Battersea has a long-standing relationship with the Royal Family that started with Queen Victoria, and we’ve been immensely proud to have The Queen and The Duchess of Cornwall as our patrons.

“We’re very grateful for this remarkable donation. Our Old Windsor animal rehoming centre is just a few miles from Windsor Castle and we think it offers the perfect setting for this dog-friendly palace. With around 10 dogs arriving at Battersea’s three centres every day we can be sure that many dogs will get a chance to enjoy the palace whilst they await their new home.”