A rare sketch of Queen Elizabeth II from her childhood could sell for between £2,000 and $2,700 at a London auction. Hungarian artist Philip de László drew the portrait in 1933, when she was Princess Elizabeth of York. He created it as a study for an oil portrait that now belongs to the Royal Collection.
The auction will take place in Chelsea on October 22. The artwork offers collectors a rare chance to own a piece linked to the late queen’s early years. Meanwhile, another childhood creation by Elizabeth is also attracting attention at an auction in Canada.
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The second item is a handmade collage expected to fetch £6,000 at Waddington’s in Toronto. Elizabeth created it at age eight using crayons and scissors to illustrate The Pied Piper. She coloured figures, houses and trees before arranging and gluing them onto a larger sheet of paper.
The young princess signed the collage “Lilibet,” while her mother added a note on the reverse. It reads, “Painted by Princess Elizabeth of York, Xmas 1934.” The artwork measures 14 by 27 inches, and an unidentified royal family member gave it to James Ryan in the 1950s.
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Ryan worked for Bishop’s Move, a removal company hired by Buckingham Palace. Waddington’s specialist Sean Quinn described the collage as a charming reminder of Elizabeth’s childhood love of colouring. He also noted that artworks created by the late queen rarely appear at auction, while other childhood drawings have attracted interest in recent years.