Platinum Jubilee: The Queen joined by Candy the Dorgi as photos are taken to mark her reign

But one very faithful four-legged friend clearly didn’t want to miss out on the final preparations for the landmark Platinum Jubilee as Her Majesty perused items from the Royal archives – and goodwill messages from the public.

And the Queen was clearly tickled when Candy, one of three dogs, strayed into the Oak Room at Windsor Castle while official photographs were being taken to mark Sunday’s historic occasion and her accession to the throne on February 6, 1952, after the death of King George VI.

Candy is an inquisitive dorgi – a cross between a corgi and a dachshund – and made a sedate lap of the room, inspecting a small group of media representatives capturing the viewing.

At one point the Queen paused, looked down and appeared to stroke her faithful companion. “And where did you come from? I know what you want,” said the 95-year-old knowingly.

It’s not clear if she had any titbits close to hand, but these pictures show how the Queen’s dogs have been a source of strength, and helped to ease the pangs of loneliness, after Prince Philip, her husband of 73 years, died last April.

The Queen’s affinity for dogs is as renowned as her dry sense of humour – her corgis even had small walk-on parts when she filmed the famous James Bond sequence for the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.

The monarch, who has owned more than 30 corgis during her reign, currently has three dogs – Candy now quite elderly, a young corgi called Muick, and another corgi puppy.

Candy was also present when the Queen held a face-to-face audience with the outgoing armed forces chief General Sir Nick Carter in November, walking forward to greet the senior figure.

One card celebrating the 2002 Golden Jubilee caught the Queen’s eye - it was made from eight bottle tops including milk, Coca-Cola and Schweppes bottles, and had the handwritten words “Ma’am You’re The Tops”.

“That’s good, simple but ingenious,” said the Queen to Dr Stella Panayotova, librarian and assistant keeper of the Royal Archives, who joined her for the viewing two weeks ago.

The Queen has since travelled to her Sandringham estate where she traditionally spends the anniversary of her accession to the throne.

The display included a Golden Jubilee letter from a nine-year-old boy called Chris, titled “A Recipe For A Perfect Queen”.

Its list of ingredients – which included “500ml of royal blood”, a “dab of jewels and posh gowns” and “a dash of loyalty” – made the Queen laugh and she said: “That’s quite fun, isn’t it.”

Platinum Jubilee cards were also on display and the Queen praised the design of one featuring a picture of her as a young woman surrounded by flowers with the words “70 Glorious Years”.

Recipes and pictures of entries to the Platinum Pudding competition were on display, showing the results of cooks who have risen to the challenge of creating a memorable dessert fit for the Queen and the nation.

Another royal aide told the Queen: “We’ve had a number of Platinum Pudding competition entries that have been coming in in recent weeks. People have been very creative.”

The monarch browsed through the images of the entries and later said: “Looks like they’re all going to end with crowns on them.”

She also studied a fan presented to Queen Victoria to mark her Golden Jubilee in 1887 by the then Prince and Princess of Wales, later Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.

In the years after Victoria’s jubilee it was signed by members of her family including her eldest child, the Princess Royal, known as Vicky to her relatives, and granddaughter Princess Alix, later the Tsarina of Russia, and the then prime minister the Marquess of Salisbury.

The Queen opened the fan and remarked how easily it could have been damaged when being signed, adding: “Extraordinary isn’t it, and it still shuts.”

Commenting on the signatures she said: “Well that’s very interesting to see, quite a gathering.”