First Stamps Bearing King Charles’s Image Released With Special Theme

King Charles is set to appear through mailboxes across Britain later this month.

The first stamps to bear the King’s silhouette have been unveiled by the Royal Mail in the U.K. Reflecting Charles’s love of nature — and his longstanding passion for gardening — the designs feature 10 different British garden flowers including peonies, sweet pea and roses.

“Britain is a nation of gardeners, and a love of flowers runs deep in our collective consciousness,” David Gold, director of external affairs and policy at the Royal Mail, said in a release.

“His Majesty is known to be a passionate gardener and we are delighted that the first Special Stamps to feature his silhouette should be a celebration of some of the most popular flowers in British gardens.”

The new image of the King, 74, appears in the top corner of the stamps, which go on sale from March 23, but can be pre-ordered from today. It is the first time since 1968 that the silhouette of the British monarch has been updated.

Other stamps featuring Charles have already been unveiled but they will come out soon after the set featuring the flowers. On that design, unveiled last month, Charles is seen without a crown — a break from a tradition set by his late mother Queen Elizabeth II, whose image showed her wearing a crown and jewelry.

Kings “have not always worn a crown, so quite rightly, the King has decided that’s the image he wants, and we are very happy to show that image as he chose,” explained Gold at the time.

The new silhouette of Charles on the latest stamps also shows his head unadorned. It follows a collaboration between the illustrator Andrew Davidson, Head of Design and Editorial at Royal Mail, Marcus James, and Ian Chilvers, from design agency, Atelier Works.

The second major stage of development was the digitizing and fine-tuning of the detail in the silhouette to ensure it matched the design of the ‘everyday’ stamps revealed in February.

King Charles is the seventh British monarch to appear on stamps, with Queen Victoria being the first in 1840.

On Monday, Charles used the annual Commonwealth Day service to remember his late mother Queen Elizabeth, who died in September.

“Commonwealth Day was an occasion of particular pride for my beloved Mother, The late Queen — a treasured opportunity to celebrate our Commonwealth family, to whose service she dedicated her long and remarkable life,” he said. “In succeeding Her Majesty as Head of the Commonwealth, I draw great strength from her example, together with all that I have learnt from the extraordinary people I have met, throughout the Commonwealth, over so many years.”

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