King Charles and Queen Camilla Visit Ireland as They Continue U.K. Tour Following Queen's Death

King Charles III and Queen Camilla have arrived in Northern Ireland for the first time as monarch and consort.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth on September 8, King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort traveled to Belfast on Tuesday as part of their U.K. tour. The couple arrived at Hillsborough Castle, where they viewed the flowers, notes and other tributes left in honor of the late Queen.

They also greeted well-wishers who gathered outside the castle, including a corgi named Connie who caught the attention of King Charles. The monarch smiled and pointed at the dog before giving her a royal pet on the head.

Queen Elizabeth was famously a huge animal lover, with corgis closely associated with the monarch. The breed first stole her heart in 1933, when her father, the soon-to-be King George VI, brought home a corgi named Dookie from a local kennel. For her 18th birthday, Elizabeth was gifted a corgi named Susan, who started a royal corgi family tree that expanded to dozens of dogs.

RELATED: A History of Queen Elizabeth II and Her Devotion to Corgis

NIALL CARSON/POOL/AFP via Getty King Charles

The Queen is also credited with creating the corgi-dachsund mix, appropriately dubbed "dorgis." So the story goes, the hybrid breed started when her sister Princess Margaret's dachsund Pipkin got a moment alone with one of the Queen's corgis.

Charles McQuillan/Getty King Charles

According to The Washington Post, the Queen was survived by four dogs: one dorgi, one cocker spaniel and two Pembroke Welsh Corgis. A source confirmed that the two corgis will now live with the Queen's son Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. "The corgis will return to live at Royal Lodge with the Duke and Duchess. It was the Duchess who found the puppies, which were gifted to Her Majesty by the Duke," the insider says.

Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth and her dogs

In Northern Ireland, King Charles heard a message of condolences.

"In the years since she began her long life of public service, my mother saw Northern Ireland pass through momentous and historic changes," Charles said in speech. "Through all those years, she never ceased to pray for the best of times for this place and for its people, whose stories she knew, whose sorrows our Family had felt, and for whom she had a great affection and regard."

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"My mother felt deeply, I know, the significance of the role she herself played in bringing together those whom history had separated, and in extending a hand to make possible the healing of long-held hurts," he continued. At the very beginning of her life of service, The Queen made a pledge to dedicate herself to her country and her people and to maintain the principles of constitutional government. This promise she kept with steadfast faith. Now, with that shining example before me, and with God's help, I take up my new duties resolved to seek the welfare of all the inhabitants of Northern Ireland."

NIALL CARSON/POOL/AFP via Getty King Charles and Queen Camilla

King Charles, 73, and Queen Camilla, 75, are set to visit all four countries that make up the U.K. in the days leading up to Queen Elizabeth's funeral on September 19. They attended engagements in Scotland on Monday, including the Queen's four children following her coffin in a procession through Edinburgh and later standing vigil inside St. Giles' Cathedral.

On Friday, the royal couple will visit Wales. The country is of special significance to Charles, who spent most of his life as the Prince of Wales.

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NIALL CARSON/POOL/AFP via Getty King Charles and Queen Camilla

Later on Tuesday, King Charles and Queen Camilla will return to London to receive Queen Elizabeth's coffin at Buckingham Palace, which will be flown from Scotland accompanied by Princess Anne. The Queen's coffin will process through London on Wednesday to Westminster Abbey, where it will lie in state as visitors pay their respects until the funeral.