RARE photos of a young Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret taking part in the royal pantomimes have sold for more than expected at an auction rooms in South Cerney.

The photos of then-teenage Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret starring in shows including Aladdin and Cirencester fetched £3,200 when they went under the hammer at Dominic Winter Book Auctions on Wednesday, December 11.

Estimates for the two scrapbooks of royal photos were placed between £2,000 and £3,000.

Chris Albury, auctioneer on the day, told the Standard that the successful bid was cast from a private buyer in London.

He said: “We were taking a lot of bids from the internet, about two thirds of all the bids were online. If it was the Queen bidding for the photos, then she certainly did a good job at keeping herself disguised.”

The images are part of a royal archive that belonged to the families of Hubert Tanner, former headmaster of the Royal School, and actor Cyril Woods, who directed and appeared in the festive school performances. All the pantomimes featured, which took place between 1940 and 1944, were held in the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle.

Mr Albury said: “There was a real panto atmosphere in the room. There must have been 50 people in there along with the television crews.

“Apart from those photos stored in the Windsor Castle archive, I don’t think there will be another set of royal photographs to rival these ones.”