AN archive of Queen Victoria's life at Balmoral, including more than 20 handwritten letters, has fetched almost double its top estimate at auction.
The lots contained letters to James Forbes, her commissioner at Balmoral, and went under the hammer for £15,000 - more than the £6000 to £8000 it was expected to fetch at Bonhams in Edinburgh.
Bonhams book specialist in Edinburgh Henry Baggott said: "I'm not surprised there was so much interest in these letters which show Queen Victoria as full of life with a pawky sense of humour and a far warmer person than perhaps we usually imagine her to be."
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