To commemorate the 70 years of reign of Elizabeth II, the British postal group Royal Mail has put on sale new stamps in limited edition.
Specially created on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Queen of England, this philatelic issue includes 8 stamps which reproduce photographs of Elizabeth II taken throughout her reign, from the 1950s to the 2020s. They are already available with Royal Mail, the British post office.
© The Royal Mail
“These stamps celebrate the reign of Elizabeth II and pay tribute to the remarkable life led by the sovereign in the service of her people,” said Simon Thompson, CEO of Royal Mail. “We are honored to issue them for the first Platinum Jubilee in UK history, a particularly significant time,” he added.
Since 2015, Queen Elizabeth II has held the record for the oldest working monarch. The same year, she also broke the record for the longest reign in England held by Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother who had reigned for 63 years. The previous silver, gold and diamond jubilees of Elizabeth II had also been the subject of a special philatelic issue.
These stamps commemorate different aspects of the official royal functions held by Elizabeth II between 1957 and 2020. For example, the stamp reproduced below on the left, represents the sovereign during the ceremony of the Order of the Garter in 1999, in Windsor. As for the other located below on the right, it shows the Queen in the company of the Duke of Edinburgh during a tour of the United States, in Washington, in 1957.
© The Royal Mail
None of these new stamps features the silhouette or the bust of Elizabeth II, which nevertheless appears on all stamps issued in the United Kingdom by the British post office since 1952, the date of her accession to the throne of England. The reason is very simple since these stamps reproduce photos of the Queen of England, it is not necessary to add the usual royal symbols representing her.
© The Royal Mail
This philatelic series is split between the two main postage rates for sending mail within the UK. Four stamps bear the words “First Class” (first class) with a value of 2 pounds sterling. They allow the rapid postage of letters or parcels on British soil. The other half of the stamps has an inscription with a face value of 1.70 pounds sterling which corresponds to the sending of mail at the standard rate requiring a few more days of routing compared to the fast rate.
© The Royal Mail
Since February 4, these stamps can be purchased across the Royal Mail’s network of agencies or via its website. Offered for sale as a series, they can also be sold separately and individually. Note that a varied range of philatelic products around these eight stamps created especially for the platinum jubilee, is available for collectors.
