Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret's baby clothes go on sale in rare royal moment
An official auction for several items of clothing from Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret's childhood will be held on June 11.
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Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret's baby clothes are set to go up for sale at Kerry Taylor Auctions in London, with the collection featuring six rare items.
The clothes being put up for auction include a white cotton dress and bonnet, a red and white scalloped outfit, a yellow frock with intricate smocking, and a pink and green floral dress.
The items were acquired by Elizabeth and Margaret's former nanny Clara Knight, who took them after the royal daughters stopped wearing them.
One of the printed floral dresses, dating from around 1930, is expected to fetch around £1500-£2400 ($2000-$3000) at the auction on June 11.
Ms Knight was first hired by the royal household to look after Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who later became the Queen Mother, in 1900.
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Then in 1926, when then-Princess Elizabeth was born, the Queen Mother hired her former nanny Ms Knight to help look after her, and later her little sister Margaret.
Ms Knight remained close to the Royal Family until her death in 1946 when the late Queen's father King George VI was still on the throne.
After her death, the clothes initially were with Ms Knight's family in East Sussex, before they were donated to the Bexhill Museum which held onto them until it had to undergo renovations.
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After being sent back to Ms Knight's family once more the dresses and other items were given to antiques collector Daniel Haddon, who has lovingly preserved them.
He explained: "The dresses make Elizabeth seem more human because you can see her as a child, running around getting dirty and playing.
"When you look at the dresses and see the repairs you can see that they were stitching them up and using the clothes as much as possible. It makes the Queen relatable."
The late Queen and her sister, four years her junior, remained close until Margaret's death in 2002, just a few weeks before the Queen Mother's own death aged 101.
The royal items of clothing are part of the Passion for Fashion and the Mr Steven Philip Collection (Part 2) sale happening in less than two weeks time.
Many items belonging to Princess Diana have also been put up for auction over the years, including recently a job contract where she lied about her age.
