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British Royals

Memorial stamps for Queen Elizabeth II issued

One of the first official memorials to Queen Elizabeth II has been revealed, just weeks after her death, but Her Late Majesty had a say in how they would look.

Royal Mail has just issued four commemorative stamps, marking the life and reign of Her Late Majesty. And although they were approved by King Charles III, they had actually been given the royal nod by his mother during her lifetime.

Royal Mail

For the set of stamps feature the images that Queen Elizabeth II approved for her own Golden Jubilee in 2002.

Royal Mail

The four stamps include some of the most famous images of Her Late Majesty. The second class stamp features one of hte iconic images taken of Queen Elizabeth II at the start of her reign by Dorothy Wilding. The first class stamp includes the portrait taken by Cecil Beaton in 1968. Works by Tim Graham and Yousuf Karsh are used on the higher value stamps.

Royal Mail

They all show Her Late Majesty’s dates, 1926 – 2022, but none has a silhouette of either Queen Elizabeth II or King Charles III on them. Usually, the Monarch’s head is included on stamps issued in the UK to show the country of issue. However, as these feature full face portraits of Her Late Majesty, that is enough to denote their origin.

All four are now available on commemorative items. The stamps will go into general circulation on November 10th 2022.

About author

Lydia Starbuck is Jubilee and Associate Editor at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra. Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024. June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.