‘War leader’: Queen climbs WWII tank in extremely rare archive images

Never-before-seen photos of Queen Elizabeth II have revealed the late monarch’s private childhood moments and WWII-era escapades. See the stunning images.

Queen Elizabeth II has been shown in a new light after never-before-seen photos were released from the late-monarch’s private archives.

The extremely rare cache of black and white images shows the Queen climbing a tank in 1945 following the end of the Second World War, while another moment shows a much younger royal gardening with her sister.

Princess Elizabeth. 19, climbs a tank just weeks after the end of World War II in never-before-published archives. Picture: Getty Images

Princess Elizabeth and sister Princess Margaret gardening during their youth. Picture: Getty Images

The family photographs will be released in a new documentary, airing in the UK on Saturday, chronicling the early life of Lilibet — her war service, romance with Prince Philip and motherhood — before she was crowned Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

In one of the most remarkable images to be shown in the two part Channel 4 series, Elizabeth II: Making of a Monarch, the then-19-year-old — in trademark attire and hat — steps up on a Comet tank during a military parade at the Royal Armoured Corps at Sandhurst on Oct 27, 1945.

Young Elizabeth appeared often with her sister, Margaret, in the unpublished archives. Picture: Getty Images

The sisters are in ball gowns during a pantomime performance during the Second World War. Picture: Getty Images

It came less than two months after the official end of the Second World War on September 2, 1945.

“I’ve never seen an image of Elizabeth on a tank, she’s leaning forward earnestly slightly – it’s almost Elizabeth as the war leader,” documentary expert Wesley Kerr told the UK’s Telegraph.

The documentary, Elizabeth II: Making of a Monarch, follows the life of the young royal into her early 20s. Picture: Getty Images

It chronicles her early romance with Prince Philip, pictured, and early motherhood. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s interesting that it’s not published, maybe it was thought to make her too political or maybe they were wanting at that time to project her as a soft figure.

“So to see her with a 20th century weapon of death at a time when Britain needed to project real power, well there’s soft power for you – which she kind of exemplifies.”

Other images handled with white-glove care in the series show Princess Elizabeth reading military maps, gardening with Princess Margaret, and cuddling up with one of her first pet dogs.

In a statement, Channel 4 said the episodes delve into the Queen sheltering at Windsor Castle during the blitz and how the war instilled a lifelong appreciation of the military, which led her to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in 1945.

“The series reveals the public and private moments which shaped Elizabeth’s formative years and helped her become Britain’s longest-serving and most loved head of state,” the statement said.