Possessions of Queen Beatrix's late mother to be sold at auction

The possessions of the late mother of Holland's Queen Beatrix will be sold in a charity auction over the next four days.

The monarch and her three sisters - Princess Irene, Princess Margriet and Princess Christina - have allowed thousands of Queen Juliana's paintings, glassware and furniture to go on display at Sotheby's in Amsterdam from today (08.03.11), after they decided to "free up" more space for the family archives.

Sotheby's managing director Mark Grol called the sale of items belonging to the late queen "a royal clear up".

Until today, the 10,000 plus objects for sale were still housed in the late royal's home, the Soesdjik Palace, in Amsterdam, where she died in 2004.

Queen Juliana passed away in her sleep several weeks before her 95th birthday from pneumonia after suffering ill-health for over 10 years.

The popular royal - who ruled for 32 years before handing the monarchy to her daughter Beatrix in 1980 - was known as the "bicycling monarch" as she insisted on shopping at her local supermarket and sending her children to state school.

All proceeds from the four-day auction - which is expected to raise up to 3 million euros - will go to charity.