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