The Royal Archives holds around 7 million documents relating to the Royal Family and the Royal Household. The Archives were founded in 1914 to find a home for the vast number of documents from Queen Victoria’s reign. With historical documents ranging from 1297 to the modern day, the Royal Archives are the proverbial Aladdin’s cave for historians; many of the items are now documented online for public access.

In this trail we want to share with you 8 interesting letters from the Royal Archives. Take a closer look into the lives and loves of members of the Royal family over the past 500 years, with letters specially selected to showcase not only historically important moments such as D-Day or Shackleton’s success in the South Pole, but also touching missives between childhood friends and family members.