Previously unpublished photographs of the Queen as a young child are being seen by the public for the very first time.
In honour of the arrival of her new great grandson Prince George, a new book is being released this week which includes family pictures of the future queen when she was just a little girl.
It's clear from a number of the photos that her life-long passion for horses began at an early age. One photograph, which was taken by her father in 1928, shows the Queen pretending to ride a small toy horse in the garden of Naseby Hall, encouraged by her mother.
A second picture, taken that same year, shows little Elizabeth sitting in a wicker pram, holding the reigns of a miniature toy horse and cart.
It is now known that she began to learn how to ride win the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace when she was just three-and-a-half, before receiving her Shetland pony for her fourth birthday. She was able to ride unaided by the time she was six.
All the photographs are being published for the first time in Royal Baby Book: A Souvenir Album, which tells the story of royal babies from Queen Victoria to Prince George.It also includes pictures of Elizabeth's progress book, which recorded details of her birth in 1926 and her early days. The book's leather cover, and a page showing her place of birth and the names of her parents and grandparents, have not been published before.The Royal Baby Book will be available to buy from Wednesday 21 August.
