With Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary this week I thought this stamp might make a timely post - The Royal Silver Wedding Stamp issued in 1948 to celebrate 25 years of marriage between Queen Elizabeth II's parents King George VI and the Queen Consort, Elizabeth (later known throughout her long life after the death of her husband as Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother).
A particular curiosity of this commemorative design is that the heads face right, whereas the King or Queen's head always faces to the left on definitive stamps.
I was lucky enough to have got tickets for the première showing of Elizabeth: The Golden Age starring Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush at the Rome Film Festival last week. The film was a sumptuous romp through history with Cate Blanchett as fabulous as ever - the scenes showing the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 were particularly impressive.
These British commemorative stamps were designed by Graham Evernden and issued on 19 July, 1988 on the 400th anniversary of the event. The set of five stamps was printed se-tenant (joined together in a horizontal strip) and the individual stamps form a composite design which runs across all five. All five stamps were valued at 18 pence and feature, reading from left to right: Spanish Galeasse off The Lizard; English Fleet leaving Plymouth; Engagement off the Isle of Wight; Attack of English Fire-ships, Calais; Armada in Storm, North Sea.
Whilst news broadcasts the world over follow the Diana Inquest I thought I'd post this First Day of Issue Postcard featuring the Guernsey 12p stamp featuring Prince Charles and Lady Diana (as she was then known) together on the occasion of their wedding on 29 July 1981. The photograph shows the couple at the announcement of their engagement. The postcard was actually posted by an aunt and uncle who were holidaying in Guernsey at the time and the date of cancellation was a pure fluke.
One of the fun sides to buying the occasional mixed bag of stamps is that you'll inevitably find the odd rarity that pays back your minimal investment. For example, I was delighted to come across this George VI £1 brown (SG 478b). First issued on 1 October 1948 this stamp is actually harder to find in good used condition than mint! It was the final stamp in the "Royal Arms" set of six which comprised the 2s 6d brown, 5s red and 10s dark blue issued in 1939, and the 2s 6d yellow-green and 10s ultramarine, which were both issued in 1942.
Here's an interesting curiosity...A very nice strip of three London Post c.1839 13p GB commemorative stamps on an envelope above another strip of three Policeman on the Beat 10p GB stamps. What makes this unusual, however, is that I received this envelope in the post the other day – in fact if you look carefully you'll see a post mark dated 10 September 2007 - whilst the commemorative stamps were issued in 1979! As it happens, this is no accident – the envelope contained other stamps purchased on eBay. One of the fun things about buying stamps from dealers on eBay is that on some occasions you get more than you bargained for!
The London Post stamp (SG Cat. 1097) was part of the four stamp set produced for the Centenary of the Death of Sir Rowland Hill (22 August – 24 October, 1979), whereas the Policeman on the Beat (SG Cat.1100) was issued on 26 September, 1979 along with three other stamps celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Metropolitan Police.
The London Post Stamp also appeared in the 1980 Miniature Sheet issued at the London 1980 Stamp Exhibition.
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