A dress worn by the Queen will go under the hammer in Colchester.
The late 1940s silk evening dress is being sold at Reeman Dansie auction house as part of a collection of royal lots.
It was worn by Her Majesty when she was still a princess and later given by her to Kathleen Ward, a telephonist at Clarence House for seven years firstly for Princess Elizabeth and then for The Queen Mother.
The history of the dress was charted in a Woman’s Own article in June 1961 and the dress will be sold with a copy of the article for an estimated £1-1,500, though it could fetch much more.
Other royal lots at the auction on Tuesday June 24 include an old internal phone with buttons including “Princess Anne” and a plaque from the tradesmen’s entrance to a royal household.
Michelle Lloyd, assistant to the auction house directors, said: “Over the years we have had more and more royal lots here at Reeman Dansie and people seem to be coming to us nationally.”
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