Rare handwritten Queen Victoria's 'txt-style' letters to go under the hammer

A collection of over 20 letters, handwritten by Queen Victoria herself, with text-style abbreviations and showing the stern monarch's more caring and compassionate side, are up for sale.

The notes that were addressed to Balmoral Castle manager James Forbes, shows the monarch substituting words like "abt" for about and "shd" for should, the Sun reported.

They also reveal her keen interest in the welfare of her staff.

After her employee William Brown's wife Lizzie passed away, she wrote: "The death of dear excellent Mrs Wm Brown, whom I was so very fond of and with whom I had been so intimate, is real grief to me and I dare not think of how dreadfully I shall miss her."

"Her loss is really irreparable. Poor William I do pity so much, for he is so helpless 'n' dear Lizzie was everything in the world to him," the note reads.

Most of the messages are penned during the last four years before her death in 1901 aged 81 and are signed "VR1" Victoria Regina I.

In another note, she urges Forbes to be "very careful and discreet" in handling a tricky church minister.

Book expert at auctioneers Bonhams, Henry Baggott, told the publication that the letters throw a fascinating light on the private Queen Victoria.

He said that the notes show her to have been far kinder and more considerate than her rather forbidding public image suggested.

Spokesman Andrew Currie asserted that the writing is quite untidy and the abbreviations are interesting - a sort of early form of texting that suggest Queen Victoria was 100 years ahead of her time.

He said that sales of this sort are not that rare, but what is unusual is that the letters show she was keen to strike up personal relationships with her staff, showing her concern for her household, tenants and neighbours at Balmoral.

He insisted that the letters are in places outspoken and they give a vivid impression of Queen Victoria's personality.

Currie added that there is a range of people who will be interested, from collectors of royal memorabilia to museums and public bodies.

The batch is tipped to fetch 8,000 pounds at August's auction in Edinburgh.