Tale of royal dog aboard sinking ship The Gloucester to be told

The Gloucester’s whereabouts were a mystery until it was found in 2007, half-buried in the seabed 28 miles (45km) out in the ocean.

The discovery was not revealed until 2022 for security reasons.

The then Duke of York fled the sinking ship, and later became the Catholic heir to the Protestant throne.

Mumper was already well known at the royal court before boarding the Gloucester, said Jowitt.

Accounts from the period described the mixed-breed dog as looking “as much like a cub as a dog”, she said.

It is claimed he enjoyed privileges like sitting beside King Charles II at dinner and regularly stealing food from the monarch’s plate.

Mumper was said to be aboard the Gloucester when it struck a sandbank.

The story comes from “The comical history of the life and death of Mumper, generalissimo of King Charles II”, published in 1704.

It claims that as the ship sank, the King’s physician, Sir Charles, found himself competing with the dog for space on a piece of floating wreckage, although unverified.