More than 200 objects given to the British monarch will be available to view in Buckingham Palace over the summer months.
More than 200 objects given to the British monarch will be available to view in Buckingham Palace over the summer months.

A present fit for a Queen: Royal gifts go on display at Buckingham Palace



Over 200 gifts presented to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during her 65-year reign are to go on display in Buckingham Palace in a special exhibition.

Visitors to the State Rooms of the royal residence in London will see a wide variety of objects, which have been presented to the monarch during tours and engagements both at home and abroad.

Some notable gifts include a paperweight made from a fossilised dinosaur bone presented in Canada in 1959 and a strip of the ribbon cut by the queen and France's President Mitterand at the opening of the Eurotunnel in 1994.

A Union Flag badge worn by in space by Major Tim Peake CMG presented to the queen by the astronaut himself can also be seen.

The queen, who turned 91 in April, is Britain's longest serving monarch and has visited more than 100 countries and territories across the world.

Alongside the Royal Gifts exhibition, there will be a commemorative display showcasing some of Princess Diana's belongings, ahead of the 20th anniversary of her death next month.

The personal effects on display were selected by the Princess of Wales' two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

The exhibition is a tribute to many of the official duties that Diana undertook before her death in Paris in 1997.

Items, which were chosen to reflect the Princes' personal memories of their mother, include family photographs, her ballet shoes and a case of cassette tapes with albums by Elton John, Diana Ross and George Michael.

The Royal Gifts exhiition and the tribute to Princess Diana can be seen at the Summer Opening of the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace from July 22 to October 1.

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