LONDON (AP and ACNI) - Fancy a piece of British royal history? On Nov. 20, 2009, Christie's London will be auctioning furniture, jewelry and other heirlooms from the collection of the late Duke of Kent, uncle of Queen Elizabeth II, and his late wife Princess Marina.

While the 336-lot auction catalog does not identify the consignor, Christie's has confirmed that the articles were inherited by the royal couple's children, the present Duke of Kent, Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra.

The auction includes silver wine coolers, linen towels from the Sandringham estate and King George V's picnic set, complete with silver thermos flask. Personal items include a painting by Queen Victoria of her daughter, Princess Louise, and a chair used at the coronation of King George VI.

Among the more intriguing items in the sale are the albums of vintage photographs. It was the Grand Duchess Elena of Russia, mother of Princess Marina, who took many of the informal family photographs held in these albums, at a time when the royal families of Europe enjoyed lifestyles of unimaginable opulence. In one of the photographs, the last Tsar Nicholas II, who was murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918 along with his wife and children, is pictured looking through a telescope and reviewing a military regiment.

Increasingly, some royals are said to be feeling the pinch of budgetary cutbacks. Beginning in 2010, for example, Prince Michael and his wife will pay the £120,000 ($195,000) annual rent for their apartments at Kensington Palace out of their own pockets. Unlike the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra, the couple are not regarded as “working” royals and therefore do not receive any income from the Queen.

Christie's said the collection is expected to raise more than 1 million pounds ($1.64 million).

Auction Central News contributed to this report. Copyright 2009 Associated Press and Auction Central News International. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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