Royal baby book reveals unseen snaps of Queen (+pics)

Previously unpublished family photograph issued by the Royal Collection of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II with the Duke of York on Shetland pony, Peggy in 1930.Photo / AP

Previously unpublished family photographs of the Queen as a young girl are to be seen by the public for the first time.

A book being released to mark the birth of Prince George contains three new pictures which show the Queen between the ages of two and four.

In each of the images, taken by her parents, the then-princess demonstrates that she had a love of horses from a young age.

One photograph taken by her father, the future King George VI, sees the young Princess Elizabeth sitting on a toy horse at Naseby Hall in Northamptonshire in 1928, with her mother by her side.

Previously unpublished family photograph issued by the Royal Collection of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II with her mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and a toy horse in front of Naseby.Photo / AP

In the same year, she is pictured sitting in a wicker pram, holding the reins of a miniature toy horse and cart.

Previously unpublished family photograph issued by the Royal Collection of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II sitting in a wicker pram in 1928.Photo / AP

Her mother took the third photograph in 1930, which shows Princess Elizabeth sitting on a Shetland pony called Peggy, which had been given to her as a fourth birthday present by her grandfather, King George V. The future Queen had learned to ride at the age of three and a half.

The Royal Baby Book also includes pictures of the then princess's progress book, which recorded details of her birth in 1926 and her early days. The leather cover of the book, and a page showing her place of birth and the names of her parents and grandparents, have not been published before.

The Royal Baby Book: A Souvenir Album, which tells the story of royal babies from Queen Victoria to Prince George of Cambridge, is published by the Royal Collection Trust on August 21.

- PA