Royal stockings set to be sold

SILK stockings worn by Queen Victoria were due to go under the hammer in Edinburgh today.

The hand-stitched black and white stockings belonging to Britain's longest-running monarch bear a crest design and are said to have been a favourite style of the Queen in the 1870s.

Auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull said the sale of the underwear, valued at around 400, would attract interest from "Victoriana" collectors worldwide.

Specialist Lee Young said: "In the past few years several items have come up for auction and made excellent prices."

It is not known how the stockings came into the hands of the current owner, but much of Victoria's wardrobe was distributed to the Royal house on her death in 1901.