Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip send Christmas cards with their sweet images to their royal staff every year. A series of these photos, taken during their first 25 years as a couple, will be unveiled in a public auction and it will also bear the signature of Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The auction will take place at Rowley's Antiques and Fine Art Auctioneers. According to managing director Roddy Lloyd, these will have the signatures, "Elizabeth R" and "Philip" and even earlier Christmas card photos signed by King George VI, the Queen's father.
Some of these Christmas cards are still in black and white, while Queen Elizabeth was still a princess. Several of these photos featured her with a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne.
Another card showed Prince Philip and and his wife, as she took on some of her father's royal engagements. One standout photo featured Her Majesty as a young lady with her father, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in the piano.
But there are also colored photos of the royal family with their dogs. A few of photos have a baby Prince Andrew and Prince Edward taken from the 1960s, while Prince Charles and Princess Anne were in their teens.
Most of these photographers came from the collections of a couple who formerly worked for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in Balmoral. The wife was apparently assigned inside the castle as a staff while the husband worked around the estate.
Lloyd said that the series depicted historical significance "showing the growth of the royal family." It showed the royal children growing up and their parents smiling and enjoying themselves.
According to experts, the photos are expected to go between $130 to $200 each. The auction house also sold out royal family photos last year of Prince William and Kate Middleton and their children, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Prince Philip and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth has opened part of her home in Windsor Castle so that the public may see the gorgeous decorations in person. The display will be up until Jan. 5, 2020.
The royal family will be spending the Christmas holidays at the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. They will be spending Christmas lunch together after hearing mass at the church in the estate. They will also be exchanging gag gifts during Christmas eve.
