Queen Elizabeth childhood footage released for first time
Queen Elizabeth II has released for the first time an intimate footage of her as a young child.
In the previously unseen films, the Queen is seen dancing, racing, swimming and pillow fighting with her family.
Movies of the royals as you’ve never seen them before are the highlight of a new exhibition inside Buckingham Palace this summer.
The Royal Childhood Exhibition features footage shot by the family themselves of the Queen as a little girl and as a young mother playing with her own children.
The Royal Childhood Exhibition features footage shot by the family themselves of the Queen as a little girl
The film footage shows the young Princess Elizabeth enjoying performing dance routines with her sister Margaret and they are shown a number of times performing.
In one clip they are seen dancing on a wall at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, and in another wearing matching green dresses and moving in unison as a pet corgi watches intently.
A pillow fight is also captured on film with the Queen and her sister playfully attacking family friend Arthur Penn.
Also on display is a cupboard door featuring pencil markings recording the height of royal children, from Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret to Charles, Anne and Andrew.
On June 13, 1936, the 10-year-old future Queen was recorded as 4ft 4ins tall, while Princess Margaret, aged 6, stood at 3ft 6ins and quarter.
From July 25, tourists paying £19.75 ($31.6) will be able to walk through the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace where more than 150 objects relating to 25 royal children from George IV in 1763 to today’s baby Prince George are on view.
Clothes, toys, prams, cots, schoolbooks and even a children’s caravan give an insight into the ordinary and extraordinary life of royals including Princes William, Harry and Charles.
Presents given to Prince George are also on display, including a rocking horse, polo mallet and blue Alpaca wool blanket given to him on his birth a year ago by President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
Prince George’s christening robe, the program of his christening and the silver-gilt Lilt Font he was baptized with last October are also on display, along with the easel that announced his birth.
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