Queen Mary's Dolls' House treasures on show at Windsor Castle

A collection of tiny treasures from Queen Mary's Dolls' House has been put on show to mark the 100th anniversary of its creation.

Featuring a miniature grand piano, the Crown Jewels and a vacuum cleaner, the exhibition is on display at Windsor Castle in Berkshire.

The scale replica of an Edwardian residence was built for King George V's consort as a gift from the nation after World War One.

It has electricity and running water.

Cited as the largest and most famous dolls' house in the world, work started on the model in 1921.

The house boasts lavishly decorated bedroom suites for the King and Queen, a day nursery, a grand saloon with a pair of red velvet and silver thrones, a dining room and a sweeping staircase in an impressive marble-style entrance hall.

It currently resides at the royal residence, which gets about one and a half million visitors every year.

On display in the new exhibition is a scaled-down replica of the Crown Jewels, inset with real diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and seed pearls.

Also showcased is a Singer sewing machine, complete with thread and minuscule scissors that can actually cut.

In addition, visitors will see a copper kettle made from a coin with the King's head still visible on its base and a piano, which is fully strung and with functioning keys.

It took more than 1,500 leading artists, craftspeople and manufacturers, including Faberge and Cartier, three years to complete the project.

Notable authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, AA Milne and Thomas Hardy penned miniature books for its famous tiny library.

The house also has a fully stocked wine cellar filled with bottles of fine wine, champagne, London gin and barrels of whiskey.

Tiny glass pipettes were used to fill the champagne bottles - but the bubbles had to be removed to make this possible.

Queen Mary - King Charles III's great-grandmother - was known to be a fan of all things small and decorative and the original idea came from her childhood friend, George V's cousin Princess Marie Louise.

Its designer was leading British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, who described it as "a miniature mansion such as the King & Queen might live in... in every detail complete".

Kathryn Jones, the display's curator, said she was thrilled to be able to show the doll's house treasures to a wider audience.

"Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a constant source of fascination for visitors to Windsor Castle, as irresistible to adults as it is to children," she added.

The items will be on display at the castle throughout 2024.

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