Pants? Queen Victoria's underwear sold for £12,000 at auction

A pair of royal cotton knickers with a 45in (114cm) waist is sold for a record price to a private English collector, along with set of replica crown jewels

A pair of Queen Victoria’s cotton knickers with a 45in (114cm) waistband have fetched £12,090 at auction.

They were sold alongside nightdresses, stockings and hats worn by Victoria and her third child, Princess Alice.

All of the items, from the Yesterday’s World museum in East Sussex, bear the stamp VR, short for Victoria Regina.

The auctioneer, Richard Edmonds, said the clothing was in excellent condition, having been preserved in tissue paper in a temperature-controlled storeroom.

Edmonds, the principal auctioneer at Chippenham auction rooms in Wiltshire, dated the underwear to the late 1890s by measuring the waistline.

An private English collector bought the knickers, along with other items of clothing and a set of replica crown jewels for £5,500.

“We’ve had a lot of interest in this sale and the auction room was packed with buyers and interested spectators,” Edmonds said.

“This is a record-breaking price for Victoria royal intimate apparel.

“Victorian royal clothing comes up for sale occasionally, but rarely in this excellent condition,” he said.

“Items of Queen Victoria’s clothing were often given to members of the royal household, particularly after her death in 1901.

“We’ve been able to date the pants by measuring the waistband.

“As there’s such a good photographic record of Queen Victoria, it’s possible to calculate her waist measurement over time, so we know roughly when she would have worn items of this size.”

Royal memorabilia from the Victorian era to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales was also on sale, along with Victorian silverware, antique furniture and the propeller from a 1935 Gypsy 3 biplane.

In 2014, a pair of Queen Victoria’s bloomers sold at an auction house in Kent for £6,200.

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