Queen Victoria's 141-year-old night dresses expected to fetch at least £11,000 at auction

A nightdress and chemise belonging to Queen Victoria are expected to fetch thousands of pounds at auction.

The 141-year-old night garments, which have been authenticated by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, were given to a maid who served the royal family in the 19th-century.

Hilary Aston, 79, a retired former language school owner from Oxford, said: "This nightdress was given to me by my uncle and aunt before they died.

"My uncle was Hubert Noel Charles who designed the first MG motorcar.

"The nightdress belonged to his parents, his father being a well-known London solicitor, Thomas Charles.

"The Charles family employed several staff, one being a maid who had previously worked for the Royal Household of Queen Victoria. When she left her employment, she was given the nightwear as a gift.

"In 2009 the Victoria and Albert Museum in London authenticated both items as Queen Victoria’s garments. They told me that the chemise in particular was very rare."

Now the royal attire is heading to auction. Queen Victoria’s nightie is expected to sell for between £4,000-£6,000 and her chemise for £3,000-£5,000.

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons, said: “We understand the royal nightgown and chemise date to around 1880.

"As our vendor says, it was customary to give departing staff items belonging to the Queen. 

"It’s noted in Queen Victoria’s journal that there was a method regarding the distribution of her discarded clothes. 

"Such a process would have been carried out discreetly through personal staff.

"The nightdress carries the Queen’s cypher embroidered in white and, stitched onto the garment, is a numbering system.

"The chemise has an emblem relating to Queen Victoria under the arm. Items like this would have been worn in rotation. 

"The nightie is voluminous in size and features lace around the shoulders and neck. 

"Though Queen Victoria was only 4ft 11ins and petite when she became queen at 18, her waist expanded to 50 inches over the decades – a fact underlined by the ample size of these floaty garments."

In 2008, Hansons sold a pair of Queen Victoria's bloomers for £4,500, a chemise for £3,800 and a nightdress for £5,200.

Then in 2012 Queen Victoria’s black mourning outfit from 1890, owned by a former royal lady-in-waiting, was contested to £4,400.

Shortly before lockdown in February 2020, a collection of Queen Victoria’s clothing and boots sold for a total hammer price of £16,500.Queen Victoria’s nightdress and chemise will be up for auction on December 7.