A rare collection of Queen Elizabeth II’s childhood effects—baby clothes and dolls—have made their way into an auction. The dolls in particular will haunt your nightmares for weeks to come.
The Telegraph reports that the items, sold by the auction house Burstow & Hewett, are from Clara Knight, who worked as a nurse to first the Queen Mother and then eventually her daughters Elizabeth and Margaret. Knight didn’t have any children, so she sent various things home to her family, who’ve held on to them for decades. The current queen wasn’t heir presumptive until her father became king in 1936, when she was 10. But she was born a princess, in luxurious circumstances, and therefore had many fine and beautiful toys which—to modern eyes—now look absolutely fucking terrifying, especially the early Mickey and Minnie Mouse. What is this doll not telling us?
It’s staring into my soul!
Why are their legs so long?
Also for sale is Clara Knight’s nanny uniform, which is made of blue silk, which is an absolutely ridiculous material for a nanny uniform, as well as a cache of beautiful baby clothes which I personally cannot look at without wondering how they expected to get poop stains out. (Obviously not a big concern for a royal!) Watch a representative from the auction house walk through the collection and marvel at how much less creepy children’s toys have become, although they are of course still pretty weird.