Incredible images have surfaced showing a young Princess Elizabeth playing outside her Wendy house with sister Margaret in the 1930s.
The opulent miniature house, entitled ‘The Little House’, was gifted to the future queen on behalf of ‘the people of Wales’ on Elizabeth’s sixth birthday in 1932.
At the time the keys were handed over to her mother, the Duchess of York, and the black and white archive pictures show the then Princess Elizabeth and her sister Margaret posing outside the little house.
The two-thirds size cottage, which measures 24 feet long, eight feet deep and with five feet high rooms was moved to the grounds of the Royal Lodge of Windsor – where it remains to this day – after it was designed by architect Edmund Willmott.
The life-size doll house was intended as a symbol of the love and fascination of the Welsh people for the little princess who was, at that stage, never expected to become Queen.
It and has since been refurbished and passed down the generations of royal children – with Harry and Meghan’s future children expected to play in it.
Before Buckingham Palace! Incredible archive images have surfaced showing a young Princess Elizabeth playing outside her Wendy house, gifted by the people of Wales for her sixth birthday, with sister Margaret (seen left) in the 1930s
Giving fans a glimpse at the 92-year-old monarch’s charmed childhood, the images show the young royals, dressed in Victorian clothes and with their hair in short curls, standing in the doorway of their home.
Even boasting its own doorbell and doormat with a sign above the door reading ‘Y Bwthyn Bach’ (The Little House in Welsh), the royals spent hours playing in the pint-sized home, with one picture showing Elizabeth playing with a pram in the house.
Another stunning snap sees a young Elizabeth in a horse and carriage in London with her nurse while her mother received the house on a trip to Cardiff.
Another pictures sees ‘Y Bwthyn Bach’ (The Little House in Welsh) at Royal Lodge being built in 1932 after being designed by architect Edmund Willmott who built a smaller version for his daughter
Even boasting its own doorbell and doormat with a sign above the door reading ‘Y Bwthyn Bach’ (The Little House in Welsh), the royals spent hours playing in the pint-sized home, with one picture showing Elizabeth playing with a pram in the house
And the build didn’t come without its drama, as when the house was in transit, the tarpaulin protecting it caught fire, destroying the thatched roof and many of the timbers.
Luckily, the Sea Insurance Company had issued a miniature fire policy for £750 on the building and £500 on the contents.
Pictures show craftsmen working day and night to repair the damage, before being reconstructed in Windsor Great Park for Elizabeth after it was displayed at Kensington Olympia’s exhibition.
The princesses were said to spend many hours cleaning and tidying their tiny home, with Elizabeth (seen right in front of the opulent house) in particular developing a reputation for being exceptionally neat
Pictures see the craftsmen working day and night to repair the damage after it caught fire in transit, before being reconstructed in Windsor Great Park for Elizabeth after it was displayed at Kensington Olympia’s exhibition
2nd April 1932: Finishing the thatching on a little cottage to be presented to Princess Elizabeth from the people of Wales. It had to be rethatched after being burnt on its journey up to the Ideal Home exhibition where it is to be on show. The architect Morgan Willmott congratulates Oscar David one of three brothers who rethatched the cottage after the fire.
In 2012 BBC’s three-part series ‘The Diamond Queen’ celebrating Elizabeth II’s 60 years on the throne, featured an episode called ‘The Little House’, in which presenter, Andrew Marr, visited it with Princess Beatrice, who spent much of her childhood playing in the house.
Tucked away from public view in the south side of the gardens of Windsor’s Royal Lodge cameras got a glimpse inside the refurbished miniature thatched, white-washed cottage described by the Queen’s granddaughter Princess Beatrice as ‘the most glamorous wendy house ever.’
Called Y Bwthyn Bach, or The Little House, it has been a play den for the Queen and subsequent generations of her family for the past 80 years.
The front door opens onto a small hallway with a kitchen to the right and the ‘siamber fach’, or Little Chamber, on the left. A staircase gives access to a bedroom and a bathroom, which, when it was first built, was very modern, with hot and cold running water, a heated towel rail and electricity
Another stunning snap sees a young Elizabeth in a horse and carriage in London with her nurse while her mother received the house on a trip to Cardiff
June 1936: Princess Elizabeth with her dogs at a window of Y Bwthyn Bach, The Welsh House, a miniature house presented to her and Princess Margaret Rose by the people of Wales
June 1936: Princess Margaret (1930 – 2002) (left) and her sister Queen Elizabeth II (as Princess Elizabeth) in front of miniature cottage Y Bwthyn Bach (the Welsh House) in the grounds of Royal Lodge, Windsor, with two of their dogs
The programme revealed that the front door opens onto a small hallway with a kitchen to the right and the ‘siamber fach’, or Little Chamber, on the left. A staircase gives access to a bedroom and a bathroom, which, when it was first built, was very modern, with hot and cold running water, a heated towel rail and electricity.
The contents included a tiny radio, a little oak dresser and a miniature blue and gold china set. There was linen with the initial ‘E’ and a portrait of the Queen’s mother, the Duchess of York, hanging over the dining room mantelpiece.
A bookcase filled with Beatrix Potter’s little books, including Jemima Puddleduck, ensured the girls never grew bored. Lattice windows, blue and white checked curtains, blue carpets and white walls finished off the decor.
The house also contained little books, pots and pans, food cans, brooms, a packet of Epsom salts and a radio licence, all made to order and to scale. In the kitchen, there was a gas cooker and a fridge which both worked. There was even a working, miniature-sized telephone. The house also had its own front garden with scaled down hedges and flower borders.
Over the years, the Queen’s children have also played in the house and latterly, her grandchildren (seen being built before it was transported for display then reconstructed in Windsor)
The contents included a tiny radio, a little oak dresser and a miniature blue and gold china set. There was linen with the initial ‘E’ and a portrait of the Queen’s mother, the Duchess of York, hanging over the dining room mantelpiece
Elizabeth (b1926) as a child on the steps of Y Bwthn Bach (The Little House), the playhouse given to her by the people of Wales. Over the years, the Queen’s children have also played in the house and latterly, her grandchildren
The princesses were said to spend many hours cleaning and tidying their tiny home, with Elizabeth in particular developing a reputation for being exceptionally neat.
Over the years, the Queen’s children have also played in the house and latterly, her grandchildren. It holds a special place in the hearts of all the royal children, but Beatrice was especially captivated it, adding, as a child, a selection of her own teddy-bears to the living room sofa.
In 2012 she has oversaw its complete refurbishment over the course of a year, believed to have been paid for by her father, the Duke of York, who has resided at Royal Lodge since 2004.
Speaking on the show at the time, Beatrice said: ‘Granny was very clear that for all the fabric she wanted very little designs. It’s such a little house that she wanted little flowers and patterns’.
‘It’s beautiful. I’ve been lucky enough to play here and now Granny’s a great-granny, so now Savannah [Peter and Autumn Phillips’s daughter] can enjoy it too.’
Princess Elizabeth (to become Queen Elizabeth II) and Princess Margaret as children in the ‘grounds’ of the model house . It holds a special place in the hearts of all the royal children, but Beatrice was especially captivated it, adding, as a child, a selection of her own teddy-bears to the living room sofa.
The Royal Family at Y Bwthyn Bach, Windsor, 1936. King George VI with his daughters and their pet dogs outside Y Bwthyn Bach (The Little House), the gift of the Welsh people to Princess Elizabeth (standing by the window). Princess Margaret is seated on the wall
Princess Elizabeth at Y Bwthyn Bach or The Little House, situated in the garden of the Royal Lodge, Windsor Great Park, Berkshire