Follow us on Twitter: @y7lifestyle

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are the proud owners of a male cocker spaniel.

The newlywed couple welcomed the puppy into their home in North Wales in early December. They are staying mum on the little dog’s name however.

A palace spokesperson has been reported as saying that the Duke and Duchess “do not want his name to be made public”, adding that he is a “private pet”.

It is believed that the pup came from the Middletons, who breed cocker spaniels. It is not known whether Kate and Wills’ pup has been bred from Kate’s mother Carole’s cocker spaniel, named Ella.

The pup will be great company for Kate when Will, a search and rescue pilot, leaves today for a six week posting to the Faulkland Islands.

The British royals have historically been a family of dog-lovers. The Cambridge’s new cocker spaniel is Will’s first pet since his Labrador, Widgeon, died two years ago, while the Queen’s affection for the breed of corgis is famous.

The Queen was given her first corgi, Susan, by her father when she was 18, and she is frequently accompanied by her three corgis, Monty, Willow, and Holly, as well as three ‘dorgis’ (bred from a daschund and a corgi) named Cider, Candy and Vulcan.

In England cocker spaniels were originally bred as hunting dogs. Their quarry was the Eurasian woodcock, which is where they got the first part of their name. The gun dogs were bred to flush out game from low-lying bush and retrieve the fallen birds after they were shot. It is believed the breed originated in Spain, arriving in England earlier than the 1500s.