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Candid photos of the Queen and Prince Philip enjoying a holiday in Scotland and on board a yacht have emerged for the first time.

The snaps, which are believed to date from the late 1940s and early '50s, show the couple in a relaxed setting away from the public gaze. 

In one, a youthful Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip enjoy a picnic while seated on a blanket at Balmoral. The future Queen sports a tartan skirt and her trademark pearls and gazes into the camera, while her husband the Duke looks resplendent in country attire, including plus fours.

Another depicts the couple enjoying a day out on a yacht owned by the novelist Daphne du Maurier and her husband, Lieutenant General Sir Frederick 'Boy' Browning.

In one of the newly emerged photos a youthful Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip enjoy a picnic while seated on a blanket at Balmoral. The future Queen sports a tartan skirt and her trademark pearls and gazes into the camera, while her husband the Duke looks resplendent in country attire, including plus fours

There is also a charming snap of a very young Prince Charles and Princess Anne playing in toy boats on the deck of a yacht, possibly the Royal Yacht.

The black and white snaps were taken by Lt Gen Browning, who was a close colleague of Lord Louis Mountbatten during World War Two. The army officer also worked for the Royal family after the war.

The bulk of the snaps are believed to have been taken at the Royal Family's Scottish Balmoral estate.

Du Maurier is seen in one photo sat on a picnic blanket next to a smiling Queen Mother with a corgi dog and a hunting party in the background.

Prince Philip enjoys a picnic at Balmoral. These candid photos of the Royal family have emerged for auction for the first time

The author Daphne du Maurier and the Queen Mother enjoy a picnic on a shoot near Balmoral, Scotland, in the 1950s

The album also includes photos of du Maurier and her children at her and 'Boy' Browning's Cornwall estate Menabilly, the inspiration for Manderley in her 1938 novel Rebecca.

They have been consigned for sale by 'Boy' Browning's godson, Kristen Baker-Munton, with auction house Rowley's, of Ely, Cambridgeshire.

The photos are being sold as part of a larger archive from the du Maurier estate which features various letters including one from her describing the time the Queen visited her and her husband in 1962.

She wrote about the monarch's arrival: 'The Queen inside, radiant, all in white. I don't know what was talked about, I heard sounds coming from my mouth I didn't recognise! She was very nice though.'

The Queen and Prince Philip (both right) enjoy a day out on a yacht owned by the novelist Daphne du Maurier and her husband

There is also this charming snap of a very young Prince Charles and Princess Anne playing in toy boats on the deck of a yacht

Auctioneer Roddy Lloyd, of Rowley's, said: 'These particular images, which show the Royal family in an off-guard, relaxed mood highlight the circles in which du Maurier and Boy moved.

'The black and white photographs record the Queen and Prince Philip in a rarely seen informal setting.

'I particularly love the photograph of the Queen Mother standing in a tartan skirt with a corgi behind her; her character shines through - it's enchanting.

'We know that the Queen also visited Du Maurier and her husband at their home in Cornwall and have a photo of Elizabeth and Philip on Boy's boat.

The Queen mother, left, smiles at a picnic in the grounds of Balmoral and right, a young Princess Ann plays in a toy boat

'The archive is a fascinating record of Du Maurier's life as well as her husband's.'

Browning, who died in 1965, was a senior officer of the British Army who has been called the 'father of the British airborne forces'. He was commander of the 1st Airborne Corps and deputy commander of First Allied Airborne Army during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.

Du Maurier was the author of the novels 'Jamaica Inn', 'Frenchman's Creek' and 'Rebecca'.

She died in 1989 in Cornwall. The sale takes place on April 27.

Daphne du Maurier (pictured) was the author of the novels including 'Jamaica Inn', 'Frenchman's Creek' and 'Rebecca'