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Four new stamps have been issued by the Royal Mail in memory of the late Queen. The stamp images are the first to be approved by King Charles since he took to the throne and will go on general sale from November 10.
The 1st Class stamp is a portrait of the late monarch taken by photographer Cecil Beaton in 1968. She is standing in her admiral’s cloak with her head tilted to the left.
The image for the 2nd Class stamp is from when the Queen posed for Dorothy Wilding in 1952 to mark her accession and coronation.
The £1.85 stamp is a portrait of Her Majesty taken in November 1984 by Yousuf Karsh.
A picture of the Queen when she attended a banquet at Prague Castle during her visit to the Czech Republic in 1996 features on the £2.55 stamp. The photo was snapped by Tim Graham.
Royal Mail’s CEO Simon Thompson said: “For the past seventy years every British stamp has been personally approved by Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.
“Today we are unveiling these stamps, the first to be approved by His Majesty The King, in tribute to a woman whose commitment to public service and duty was unparalleled in the history of this country.”
All four stamp images were released in the Golden Jubilee issue in 2002 and were approved by the late Queen that year.
A presentation pack of all four stamps will retail at £6.95 and is available to pre-order on the Royal Mail’s website.
The Royal Mail has also confirmed the King’s image will replace the late Queen on new 1st and 2nd Class definitive stamps, as well as all those of other values.
Issues of special stamps will also feature a silhouette of Charles.
The Royal Mail said: “New stamps featuring King Charles will enter circulation once current stocks of stamps are exhausted.”
The images of the new stamps, and the timings of their release, and the new silhouette will be revealed at a later date.
The Royal Mail said: “In line with guidance from the Royal Household, to minimise the environmental and financial impact of the change of monarch, existing stocks of definitive stamps that feature the late Queen and the special stamps which use her silhouette, will be distributed and issued as planned. The launch dates of some of the special stamps may change.”
The stamps in memory of the royal matriarch come after she died peacefully aged 96 at Balmoral on September 8.
Her state funeral took place at Westminster Abbey last Monday.
Presidents, prime ministers and royals from around the world were among 2,000 people attending the service.
The Queen was laid to rest with her beloved husband Prince Philip in the King George VI Memorial Chapel in a private burial service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
The Royal Family’s period of mourning for the late Queen came to an end yesterday.
