First Look: The UK’s New Longest Reigning Monarch Stamps

Royal Mail has issued a set of five new stamps marking Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becoming our Longest Reigning Monarch.

Each stamp features a different regal design highlighting a key Royal motif, and there is a new 1^st Class definitive for use on everyday letters too.

I’ve managed to get hold of some of the stamps fresh off the press so I can show them to you here on the blog…

1st Class
In a nod to the historical precedent for the occasion this stamp features William Wyon’s ‘City Medal’. Depicting the head of Queen Victoria – the UK’s previous longest reigning monarch – the medal was struck to commemorate her first visit to London. The image on the Penny Black was based on this portrait, which in turn was based on a sketch of Princess Victoria when she was 15 years old.

1st Class

Dorothy Wilding’s three-quarter profile photograph of Queen Elizabeth II was one of a series taken in April 1952 and appeared on British postage stamps from 1952 until 1967.

It is reprised here, an unprecedented pairing of the two most important images of the Queen in British postal history.

£1.52
The House of Windsor came into being in 1917, when ‘Windsor’ was adopted as the British Royal Family’s official name by a proclamation of King George V, replacing the historic name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The Badge of the House of Windsor shown on this stamp – featuring the Round Tower of Windsor – has been in use since 1938.

£1.52

The second high-value stamp bears the Personal Flag of Queen Elizabeth II.

This is a standard that can be used on any building, ship, car or aircraft in which the Queen is staying or travelling. It is often used to represent her role as Head of the Commonwealth.

1st class definitve

In 1966 the HM The Queen approved Arnold Machin’s design for an effigy of her to be used on what came to be known as the “Machin series” of British definitive postage stamps. This latest edition is printed in a new mauve colour and the text in iridescent ink repeats the phrase, ‘Long to Reign Over Us.’

There is also a new commemorative postmark featuring the opening lines from the national anthem – ‘God Save Our Gracious Queen’ – which complements the stamps superbly. Any commemoratives using this postmark are sure to be sought after in the future – it is a true one-of-a-kind.

Suffice to say, these five new stamps are an intelligent, subtle and dignified tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s remarkable reign. As it is extremely unlikely her record will be broken in our lifetime, these could well become some of the most sought after QEII stamps ever issued.

If you’re interested…

You can own all five of these stamps now, postmarked with the first day of issue date 9/9/2015, and affixed to a commemorative Double Coin Cover.

Featuring the new UK £5 Coin, you can read more about it by clicking here…