Signed portrait of Queen Elizabeth II found in Bashar al-Assad’s presidential palace in Damascus

Inside the deserted New Shaab Palace in Damascus, Syria. Parts of the palace were ransacked in recent days as rebel forces in Syria seized the capital from long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad. Photo / Getty Images

The picture, dated 2002, was found in the ousted Syrian president’s “treasure room”, which was stacked with gold-encrusted chests, pottery and an award from Fifa.

The ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad kept a signed picture of Queen Elizabeth II inside a room in his presidential palace stuffed with hoards of prized possessions and diplomatic gifts.

Pictures show rebel fighters picking through the treasure room, with its shelves stacked high with gold-encrusted chests, paintings, pottery and souvenirs in the now-ransacked New Shaab Palace (People’s Palace) in Damascus.

Elsewhere in the cluttered room was a rug depicting Assad’s own face, a gold Fifa award from Syria’s participation in 2005 and what appeared to be a silver shield.

Assad and his family fled their homes in haste for Moscow, Russia, where they have now been granted asylum, just as rebel forces entered Damascus on Sunday after sweeping across the country in a lightning 12-day offensive.

A portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, signed by the royal couple, was found among the personal souvenirs left behind by Bashar al-Assad. Photo / Getty Images

So fast was their departure that military maps still lay across Assad’s desk, where civilians were just hours later seen posing for selfies.

The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip was signed by both and dated 2002, when the late Queen met Assad and his British-born wife Asma at Buckingham Palace.

The visit was part of a period when Assad was seen courting foreign dignitaries and European royals as he sought to improve Syria’s image on the world stage following his father’s brutal dictatorship.

People roam the presidential palace in Damascus after Bashar al-Assad fled from Syria to Russia. Photo / Getty Images

His outwardly “friendly” image quickly unravelled during his savage crackdown on the Syrian uprising in 2011 that plunged the country into nearly 14 years of bloodshed and civil war.

On Sunday, as rebel fighters stormed several of Assad’s palaces, throwing open the doors to places Syrians had never dreamed of seeing, footage emerged of civilians quickly looting personal items.

People were seen walking away with Louis Vuitton bags, chairs, pulling down chandeliers, stamping on portraits and setting fire to some rooms.

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One clip showed looters exhibiting Assad’s fleet of luxury vehicles, including Ferraris, Aston Martins, Rolls-Royces, BMWs, Mercedes and what appears to be a Bugatti Veyron.

A treasure room similar to Assad’s was found in one of Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s palace-like compounds after he was killed in 2011.

Bronze statues, jewel-encrusted pistols and even, bizarrely, a portrait of former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice were found, while looters walked away with a golden dagger worth US$10 million ($17.2m) that was later recovered in 2016.