A mourning outfit worn by Queen Victoria in the late 1800s has sold for more than three times its expected price at auction.
The outfit, comprising a black silk taffeta and bombazine bodice and matching grosgrain skirt with a 43in waist, along with monogrammed silk undergarments, was expected to sell for between £1,000 and £2,000.
But bidding started at £2,000 and the outfit finally sold for £6,200 to an American buyer at the auction at Hansons Derbyshire Auction Centre in Etwall, Derby.
The outfit sold for £6,200 at Hansons Derbyshire Auction Centre
The outfit comes complete with a fine black straw hat with mourning veil and mounted with a shining ostrich feather which was made by the royal family's milliner Robert Heath of Hyde Park Corner and a pair of small black boots.
The royal attire was consigned to Hansons auctioneers from a local house after being bought from a house sale in the 1970s.
Queen Victoria, Britain's longest reigning monarch who ruled from June 1837 until January 1901, remained in mourning until the end of her life after her husband Albert died suddenly of typhoid in December 1861, aged 42.
Following the auction a spokeswoman at Hansons Auctioneers said: "It was very exciting. The sale went extremely well. There was a very good atmosphere and the dress will now be making its way to the US."