Queen’s old toys among items to go on display

London: The Queen’s old toys, including two treasured rocking horses, Parisian dolls attired in French haute couture, and the little wicker pram she enjoyed pushing as a two-year-old, are to go on display.

A new Buckingham Palace exhibition, Royal Childhood, is to allow a small glimpse into the toy boxes and wardrobes of generations of young royals.

It demonstrates that no expense was spared in entertaining a young princess “Lilibet”, as her family called her, and her little sister, Margaret. While inexpensive toys, such as Knockemdown Ninepins, a popular wooden skittles game in the 1920s, and a pink rabbit-shaped tea-set, feature, the future Queen’s Wendy house was extravagance itself.

The miniature thatched cottage “Y Bwthyn Bach”, or “The Little House”, presented by the people of Wales to the six-year-old princess in 1932, was constructed in the grounds of Royal Lodge, Windsor, and boasts electric lighting and running water. Still used by younger royals today, its miniature kitchen will be recreated for the exhibition, which runs from 26 July to 28 September during the summer opening of Buckingham Palace’s state rooms.

Among the most spectacular exhibits is the silver-gilt Lily Font, commissioned by Queen Victoria for the christening of her first daughter, Princess Victoria, in 1841, which has been used at almost all major royal baptisms, including that of the newest royal, Prince George, in October.

On show, too, will be George’s silk satin and lace christening robe, which is a replica of the original royal christening robe commissioned by Victoria.

While George was recently photographed in a cosy, personalised sweater, the exhibition features the more formal outfits foist on his forebears. These include the velvet “walking suits” the young George V was forced to wear, and the sailor-suit pageboy outfit George’s father, the Duke of Cambridge, wore for Prince Andrew’s 1986 wedding.

A tiny pair of velvet shoes belonging to Queen Victoria’s eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, have inscribed on the sole that they were worn by the future Edward VII at the age of eight months.

A silver baby’s rattle, given to the future George III as an infant in 1763 by his governess, was subsequently used by all of George’s 16 children, before being passed to Queen Victoria.

The exhibition will bring together both family and official gifts held by the royal collection presented to royal children as well as previously unseen photographs and film footage.

Toys on display will range from jigsaws to train sets. Among the earliest items in the exhibition are a dolls’ house created by a carpenter on the royal yacht for George III’s daughters, and dolls made by the young princess Victoria, inspired by the characters she had seen at the ballet and opera.