The final stamps that will bear the image of Queen Elizabeth II have been released.
The special commemorative set marks the centenary of the Flying Scotsman. The stamps were approved by Her Late Majesty with the design finalised before her death in September 2022.
King Charles III asked for all stamps already bearing his late mother’s image to go ahead as planned to save costs and resources.
The special set, released on the Royal Mail website on February 28th 2023, will be the final edition to have a silhouette of Elizabeth II in their corner. From April, King Charles III’s profile will be on all stamps.
However, stamps already issued bearing the image of Queen Elizabeth II remain valid for use although those without a barcode have to be put in the postal system by July 2023 to be accepted.
The new stamps pay tribute to one of the most famous trains in the world. The twelve stamps show the Flying Scotsman in a variety of archive images as well as on some of the posters that advertised the train. They were chosen with the help of Bob Gwynne, associate curator at the National Railway Museum in York where the Flying Scotsman is conserved and displayed.
The stamps are available to pre-order from February 28th 2023 online and will go on sale in post offices on March 9th 2023.
