Queen Elizabeth II: A playhouse from Wales loved by royals

A playhouse fit for a future Queen was the gift given by the people of Wales to a young Princess Elizabeth in 1932.

The miniature two-storey thatched cottage - called Y Bwthyn Bach - was built in Cardiff and presented to her parents, the then-Duke and Duchess of York, who travelled to the city to accept the gift for their daughter's sixth birthday.

It was later installed in the grounds at the family's home, Royal Lodge in Windsor, where it was enjoyed by Princess Elizabeth and her younger sister Princess Margaret.

It still stands today and has become a favourite for generations of royal children for decades.

For the little Cardiff girl who handed over the keys of the house to the Royal Family while dressed in traditional Welsh costume, it was a playhouse she could only admire from afar.

Previously speaking to the BBC, Jean Sharman, whose father had helped make the miniature cottage, said: "Princess Elizabeth must have been thrilled to have had it.

"I think it was charming and inside you wanted to touch everything because it was so small, in miniature, lovely china.

"[I thought] 'Oh, isn't she lucky', then I probably went home discontented because I didn't have it. I'm sure I felt that."

However, the playhouse nearly did not make it to Windsor.

"It was twice dispatched on a lorry," according to Olwen Hedley, in her book Round and About Windsor and District.

"For the first time, the journey was only half accomplished when an accident occurred and the cottage was found to be on fire.

"It was taken back, the slight damage quickly repaired and soon Y Bwthyn Bach arrived without further mishap at the Royal Lodge, where a charming setting had been prepared for it on the south side of the garden."

Y Bwthyn Bach - Welsh for The Little Cottage - was a carefully planned miniature version of a real-life home.

Designed by architect Edmund Willmott, the house was built by Welsh craftsmen from materials left over from the construction of Llandough Hospital in Vale of Glamorgan, which opened in 1933.

With four, 5ft-high rooms - two upstairs and two downstairs - the playhouse was the perfect place for the future Queen and her sister to play and entertain members of the Royal Family.

In the cream-walled parlour, Welsh dolls shared an armchair, while a small Welsh dresser displayed blue and gold china and a bookcase containing Beatrix Potter books.

With a working electric cooker, fridge and running water in the kitchen - as well as tiny pots and pans, food cans and brooms - they could bake cakes and "play house".

While upstairs, a bathroom had a towel with an "E" embroidered in pastel pink and the bedroom had a bed and cradle.

For a home in the 1930s, it was very modern and even had its own working miniature telephone.

Ms Hedley, writing in her book, which was first printed in 1948, said Y Bwthyn Bach had played "a special part in the childhood of both Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret".

"Right up to the time when state duties claimed first place in their lives, no-one else was responsible for the care of the cottage, which now remains a treasured possession telling unmistakably of the joy it has given," she added.

Since then, the cottage has been enjoyed by the Queen's children and grandchildren.

The Queen's granddaughter, Princess Beatrice, oversaw a refurbishment of the cottage and gave former BBC presenter Andrew Marr a tour of it as part of The Diamond Queen series, which was broadcast in 2012 to celebrate Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne.

New curtains and upholstery were added, the paintwork was refreshed, the roof was rethatched and the cottage was rewired.

The original blue colour scheme was replaced by pale green sofa coverings and cream curtains with tiny dark pink flowers.

"Granny was very clear that for all the fabric she wanted very little designs. It's such a little house that she wanted little flowers and patterns," she said.

"Granny and her sister played here growing up. And we have been lucky enough to play here and cousins and second cousins. It's a real family treat.

"It's the most glamorous Wendy house ever."