Now Burstow & Hewett will offer a glimpse into royal childhood, offering a selection of clothes and dolls once owned by the Queen Mother, queen and Princess Margaret in sale on September 20.
The pieces come from the collection of Clara Allah Knight (1879-1946), once the nurse to the royal family. After the death of her surviving relatives, the collection was lent to Bexhill Museum.
Among the lots offered at the East Sussex saleroom is a pink silk jacket belonging to the Queen Mother and Knight’s c. 1910 nurse’s uniform. All the clothes, which include a selection of colourfully printed 1920s playsuits and dresses once worn by royal children, will be offered together with an estimate of £1000-1500.
Additionally, five dolls, including a Dean’s Rag Book Company Mickey and Minnie Mouse, are each estimated at around £200-300, though all lots are offered without reserve.
“We are expecting worldwide interest,” says Burstow & Hewett principal auctioneer Mark Ellin. “Clara Knight lived and worked extremely closely with the royal family and was given these clothes and dolls from time to time. She would then sent to her family in Sussex at Christmas, as she had no children of her own.”
