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A new collection of stamps has been issued by the Royal Mail in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Elizabeth II is just two days away from her 70th anniversary on the throne on Sunday when she will become the first British sovereign in history to reach such a milestone.
The new set features photographs of her throughout the decades of her reign, from the 1950s to the 2020s, from Trooping the Colour and walkabouts on home soil to worldwide tours.
The earliest, in black and white, appears on a 1st class stamp and shows the young Queen alongside the Duke of Edinburgh as the monarch smiles and waves during a tour to Washington DC in the US.
The Queen with her beloved Duke of Edinburgh by her side in the US in 1957
This jubilee will poignantly be the first the monarch has commemorated without Philip, who died in April.
Here, she is touring the Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, in Canada in May 2005
In 1999 she was captured wearing her Order of the Garter robes
The other 1st class stamps include the Queen smiling, in a burgundy outfit and hat, during a visit to the MI5 headquarters in February 2020; and on a walkabout in Worcester in April 1980.
The monarch’s changing fashion over the years is captured in a 1966 photograph on a £1.70 stamp, in which she wears a feathered hat and shift dress of the era, in Victoria Park, St Vincent, during a tour of the West Indies.
During a tour of the West Indies, in Victoria Park, St Vincent in 1966
Simon Thompson, chief executive of Royal Mail, said it was an “honour” to release the stamps which were a “celebration of the second Elizabethan Age” and a tribute to a “remarkable lifetime of duty and public service”.
The Queen’s Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees were also marked with special stamp issues.
But what about the usual Queen’s head stamp silhouette?
None of the new set includes the silhouette of the Queen normally required on special stamps.
Because the Queen’s image is used in the actual design of the stamp, this removes the need for the silhouette, the Royal Mail said.
On walkabout in Worcester in April 1980
While the Queen’s Accession Day falls on 6 February, national celebrations are being held on a special four-day bank holiday weekend in June, with festivities including a pop concert at the Palace, a service of thanksgiving and a pageant on The Mall.
Forty-five years ago during a Silver Jubilee walkabout in Camberwell in June 1977
The monarch is currently staying on the Sandringham estate, where she will remain for the anniversary, which simultaneously marks the death of her father George VI and the moment she became Queen in 1952.
The newest image shows a smiling queen wearing a burgundy outfit and hat, during a visit to the MI5 headquarters in February 2020
The stamps, which can be bought separately, and a range of collectible products are available from Friday.
Read more:
‘Platinum Jubbly’: The Queen’s 70-year reign gets an Only Fools and Horses twist
Buckingham Palace reveals bank holiday programme of events for Her Majesty’s 70th year on the throne
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