Running through the marshes, paddling the loch and playing with her corgi, these photos of a carefree young Princess Elizabeth look like a world away from the queen who has become so well known today.
In never-before-seen footage released by Buckingham Palace and the BBC ahead of her jubilee next week, the then 12-year-old royal brushes stones, runs with Princess Margaret and looks completely carefree during a summer break at Balmoral in 1938.
As these images show, the young queen feels completely at home in Balmoral, her summer residence in Scotland.
Photos show the princesses playing on the shores of Loch Muick and the Glas-allt-Shiel waterfall with her father George VI strolling with the family’s Labrador.
Balmoral is very close to the Queen’s heart, she named her new corgi “Muick” (pronounced Mick) after the Scottish estate loch.
Running in the marshes, paddling in the loch and playing with her corgi, these photos of a carefree young Princess Elizabeth seem a world away from the Queen who has become so well known today
In never-before-seen footage released by Buckingham Palace and the BBC ahead of her jubilee next week, the then 12-year-old royal brushes stones, runs with Princess Margaret and looks completely carefree during a summer break at Balmoral in 1938.
The shots are taken from a private personal film captured at the estate.
It will air on the BBC – which has been granted unprecedented access to the reels by the Queen – in its documentary Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen, which airs on May 29.
The Royal Family have been filming themselves since the 1920s, but hundreds of these homemade recordings have been privately held by the Royal Collection in the vaults of the British Film Institute for decades.
Now they will be shared with the public, giving viewers new insight into the Queen’s life as she celebrates her historic 70 years on the throne.
In a new preview clip released ahead of this weekend’s documentary, George VI is seen smiling alongside his daughters Elizabeth and Margaret.
As these images show, the young queen feels completely at home in Balmoral, her summer residence in Scotland.
Balmoral is very close to the Queen’s heart, with her naming her new corgi ‘Muick’ (pronounced Mick) after the loch on the Scottish estate
The princesses, both dressed in pretty tea dresses with cardigans, happily chat with their father as the camera rolls.
Elsewhere, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, is seen soaking up the sun. A jovial George VI, dapper in his sailor whites, crosses the bridge before looking into the lens.
Her close relationship with her eldest daughter is glimpsed in an impromptu game of tossing and catching.
Royal Navy sailors busy themselves as the camera pans to them, showing how they have kept the ship in shape for their VIP passengers.
Elizabeth looks young and carefree in the video, smiling under the wide blue sky.
Photos show the princesses playing on the shores of Loch Muick and the Glas-allt-Shiel waterfall with her father George VI strolling with the family’s Labrador
The documentary traces the Queen’s journey from her earliest childhood, pushed in a pram by her mother, to her coronation aged just 27 in 1953, following the death of her father George VI in 1952. Photographed in 1938
The footage revolves around speeches given by Her Majesty: her 1996 Christmas broadcast in which she discusses the importance of establishing relations with other countries, and her speech at the Guildhall on June 11, 1947, a few months after her back from Africa.
The documentary traces the Queen’s journey from her earliest childhood, pushed in a pram by her mother, to her coronation aged just 27 in 1953, following the death of her father George VI in 1952 .
The documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of the Queen’s upbringing and reveals the warmth of her relationship with her parents.
A clip shows young Elizabeth at Windsor’s Royal Lodge in 1940, where she frolics in matching dresses with Princess Margaret – and a corgi – and falls backwards into a chair in an apparent George VI prank.
Loch Muick is said to be one of the Queen’s favorite places on the Balmoral estate and she named her corgi after the lake
It captures Prince Philip’s first extended visit to Balmoral in 1946 when the couple’s engagement was still not public – a beaming Princess Elizabeth showing the camera her engagement ring.
It also shows Princess Elizabeth as a young mother, with the King and Queen as the loving grandparents of Prince Charles and Princess Anne.
Other rare moments include her grandfather George V (known to the Queen as ‘Grandfather of England’) sailing with the Queen Mother off the Isle of Wight in 1931, footage from the Princess Elizabeth with her uncle Prince George, the Duke of Kent, who tragically died in a plane crash in 1942 while on active duty – and a poignant glimpse of the royal family at Balmoral in 1951, the last visit of the King George VI there.
Unlike conventional documentaries featuring interviews and narration, Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen relies heavily on the Queen’s voice and words, as well as news audio.
The filmmakers listened to over three hundred Queen’s Speeches, spanning over eight decades.
Beaming alongside her father and sister, here’s young Princess Elizabeth enjoying a trip to the high seas. The stills are from a private film made aboard HMS Vanguard, the ship that took the royal family to South Africa in 1947.
Videos show sisters Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret more relaxed during a break in South Africa