Unseen royal photos and du Maurier poem auctioned

A previously unseen photograph of the Queen and Prince Philip was found in the archive

Unseen photographs of the Royal Family found in an archive of author Daphne du Maurier have been sold at auction.

Pictures of the Queen and Prince Philip, the Queen Mother, Prince Charles and Princess Anne were among 354 lots sold for a total of £150,000.

The Suffolk archive revealed unknown poems by the author found in a photograph frame that sold for £5,334.

Cambridgeshire auctioneer Rowley's said the sale had sparked a new interest in the writer's work.

The archive of material spans a period of about 40 years of correspondence between du Maurier and her close friend Maureen Baker-Munton.

It includes a number of unpublished photographs believed to have been taken by du Maurier's husband Lt Gen Sir Frederick "Boy'" Browning, who worked for the Royal Family and accompanied them on a number of tours.

The Queen Mother was photographed having a picnic with Du Maurier

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip on board Du Maurier's husband's yacht, the Fanny Rosa

A letter by du Maurier, written shortly after the Queen visited her and her husband in Cornwall in 1962, read: "The Queen, radiant, all in white.

"I don't know what was talked about, I heard sounds coming from my mouth I didn't recognise! She was very nice though…"

A very young Prince Charles and Princess Anne were photographed playing in toy boats on the deck of a yacht

Photographs of the author and her letters were among the auction lots

One poem, titled Song of the Happy Prostitute begins: "Why do they picture me as tired and old… selling myself with sorrow, just to gain a few dull pence to shield me from the rain."

It was found hidden behind a photograph frame showing the author standing on rocks above the sea.

An unknown poem - Song of the Happy Prostitute - was hidden behind a photo of the author

On the reverse are a number of untitled stanzas thought to date from the late 1920s at the time the author was about 20.

The archive was brought to auction by Baker-Munton's son Kristen, who was Du Maurier's godson and often travelled from his family home in Suffolk to holiday with the author in Cornwall.