A family have discovered they've been staring at a royal fortune while sitting on their 'throne' - after finding out their bathroom mirror was once owned by Marie Antoinette.
Marie Antoinette was the last queen of France, reigning between 1774 and 1792 after marrying Louis XVI, before being executed during the French Revolution, having famously declared of the poor 'let them eat cake'.
This means that the mirror is well over 200 years old, but its current owners had hung it on their toilet wall for 40 years, unaware they were looking daily at an item of historical significance.
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However, it's now expected to fetch £10,000 ($12,900) at an auction held by East Bristol's Specialist 'Fine Art & Antiques Auction' on 13 November.
Measuring just 50cm by 40cm, the bathroom piece is thought to have formed part of a larger display in one of Antoinette's French palaces.
Mounted in a finely carved Walnut frame with leaves and vines, the mirror also has a small silver plaque on the front saying that it belonged to the late queen - but incredibly its current owners thought it was a joke.
The plaque says: "This glass formerly belonged to Marie Antoinette and was purchased at the sale of Napoleon's effects."
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Aiden Khan of East Bristol Auctions said: "It's remarkable to think this mirror, with its incredible history, has been sat on a wall of a downstairs loo for so long.
"It's a real piece of history - a tangible link to one of the most famous figures of the eighteenth century."
The mirror has perhaps found itself in some other illustrious toilets in the past too, with Napoleon's wife Eugenie among those who are believed to have owned it at one point.
Eugenie famously had an obsession with Antoinette, purchasing items from her personal estate and even holding an exhibition in her honour.
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Auctioneer Andrew Stowe explained: "This has a wonderful paper trail - it actually appears in a catalogue from an auction held in 1880 at Camden House in Kent, for the estate of the late Napoleon III, in which is it noted as a 'toilet-glass in an Indian Wood frame'.
"When we saw that, it pretty much sealed it as the real-deal."
More recently, the mirror was purchased in the 1950s by a friend of the current owner's family, and when that original purchaser passed away in the 1980s, it was inherited by the grandmother of the latest owner.
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Stowe said of the current owners: "They never really thought it to be worth anything, and they seemed to find it more interesting than valuable.
"When they first brought it to our attention, we were certainly keen to explore its history, and then once we discovered all of this incredible evidence it really did become something special.
"To think one of the most famous historical figures looked into this very mirror is just spellbinding."
Although probably less spellbinding to think about Antoinette looking into while sat on the bog.
Topics: UK News