UK Royal Mail unveils first King Charles stamps

Royal Mail reveals image of new stamps featuring the UK’s new King

The UK Royal Mail has revealed the first stamps to feature an image of King Charles III.

The minimalist, unadorned picture, with no crown on the stamp or any other decoration, was approved personally by the King.

They will be available from April 4.

Britain’s postage stamps are unique in not showing the name of the country, and the new stamps have nothing except the King’s head, the price and also, now, an attached barcode.

Millions of the new stamps are now being printed, which will be used concurrently with those of Queen Elizabeth II, which will be sold until the old stocks run out.

“The feedback we got back was that he wanted it to be simple,” Royal Mail director of external affairs, David Gold, told the BBC.

“It’s a very human image, with no embellishment,” he added.

The design was also intended to provide continuity, influenced by the classic profile of Queen Elizabeth II created by the artist Arnold Machin in 1967.

King Charles is now the seventh monarch to appear on stamps.

Queen Victoria was the first, in 1840, when her profile was shown on a “Penny Black”.

The picture of Queen Victoria used on the first stamps originated from an earlier sketch drawn when she was 15 years old, and that continued as the image used until her death at the age of 81.

King Charles has always been a keen letter writer.

During the Covid pandemic he wrote a personal letter praising the importance of postal workers as a “point of daily human contact, a friendly, familiar face”, addressing his envelope to “Everyone at Royal Mail”.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.