Queen Victoria's massive 'inner wear' sold at auction equivalent to Ksh.900,000

Queen Victoria’s silk bloomers with a massive 52-inch waist have sold at auction for £6,200.

The knee-length knickers went under the hammer along with a pair of Victoria’s silk stockings which sold for £1,100.

Also in the sale at Westenhanger Auctions near Folkestone, Kent, was a petticoat with a 66-inch bust worn by Britain’s longest serving monarch.

The buyers of the royal underwear wished to remain anonymous, auctioneer Michael Hogben said.

He added: “The items are very large. She wore them towards the end of her life when she had eaten a lot more than most people could afford to.

“The bloomers are from about 1890. When Queen Victoria died she gifted a lot of her under-linen to her loyal servants.

“They have been in a Kent family for more than 80 years. “When they said they had a pair of Queen Victoria’s bloomers we didn’t believe it at first but they feature her emblem and there’s a number 36 on them, which was the laundry batch.

“These are some of the most interesting items I’ve auctioned in my 40-year career and it will be fascinating to see what they fetch.”

Queen Victoria was on the throne for 63 years from 1837 until her death in 1901.

Other items auctioned at the sale on Sunday included jewellery and props from 1970s television show The Professionals.