A rare handwritten letter from a young Queen Elizabeth detailing how she first fell in love with the Duke of Edinburgh has sold at auction for more than £14,000.
The monarch, who turned 90 this week, wrote the letter recalling the early stages of her relationship with the Duke when she was 21 years old.
The two-page letter was written to author Betty Shew in 1947 – just months before the Queen and Philip got married.
The letter was bought for £14,400 by a private UK collector at a sale at Chippenham Auction Rooms in Wiltshire.
Over the two page note, Princess Elizabeth recalls how she first met Philip in 1939 and she describes his love of fast cars and how they danced at nightclubs Ciro’s and Quaglino’s in London.
An extract from the letter reads: “Philip likes riding but as yet, has not done much racing.
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"We both love dancing - we have danced at Ciro's and Quaglino's as well at parties.
"We first started seeing more of each other when Philip went for a two-year job to the R.N Petty Officers School at Corsham - before that we hardly knew each other.
"He'd spend weekends with us, and when the school was closed he spent six weeks at Balmoral - it was great luck his getting a short job first them! Elizabeth”
The letter is written in ink on white paper and adorned with the royal crest.
Auctioneer Richard Edmonds said: "This is a fantastic result. It was quite an honour to be able to sell such an important document, particularly as the country is celebrating the Queen's 90th birthday.
“The bidding was both online and over eight phone lines. It was pretty fast and furious. At times our internet connection looking like it was lighting up.”