Royalty

Well if you do if might feature on ‘A Celebration of Coronation Commemoratives,’ a new set of stamp sheetlets issued today to mark this year’s 60^th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.

From china plates to postcards, biscuit tins to badges, ‘A Celebration of Coronation
Commemoratives’ is a stunning new tribute inspired by the work of Robert Opie

From Victoria to Elizabeth II

This definitive royal collection features 5 of history’s most recent monarchs – up to our present Queen and as far back as her great great grandmother, Queen Victoria.

Spanning 175 years of royal memorabilia from Victoria’s Coronation in 1838 to Elizabeth II’s 60^th anniversary in 2013, the new collection of commemorative stamp sheetlets take their inspiration from consumer historian and royal devotee, Robert Opie who has spent a lifetime creating scrapbooks from royal memorabilia:

“The historic occasion of a royal coronation, of course, attracts a deluge of souvenirs, from the traditional ceramic mug to a set of commemorative stamps.  Instinctively, we all want to keep a souvenir of such an event – a decorated tin, a jigsaw puzzle or just a royal picture postcard.”

 A link to the past

But these sheetlets aren’t just colourful montages of Coronation keepsakes – they chart other royal celebrations such as births, weddings and jubilees. More than that, they provide a fascinating insight into what life was like in the past.

Queen Victoria whose incredible record of 63 years on the throne resulted in a vast amount of memorabilia from gin flasks and songs sheets to the more traditional china mugs and plates. Collectively, they paint of picture of Industrial Britain at the height of the Empire.

The new sheetlets feature Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II, the only two monarchs ever to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee

A boom industry

For the Coronations of Edward VII in 1902 and George V in 1911, royal souvenirs had become big business. An abundance of items like chocolate, biscuit, tea and tobacco tins were widely available as were postcards.

1937 saw the crowning of George VI and a wider range of branded souvenirs such as Cusson’s talcum powder, Cadbury’s and Fry’s. As you might expect, his older brother  doesn’t feature as he abdicated before he was crowned (unfortunately, souvenirs for Edward’s coronation had already been produced by the time he made his shock announcement).

The ultimate tribute

A ‘Celebration of Coronation Commemoratives’ is issued by seven British overseas territories – Bermuda, Tristan da Cunha, Isle of Man, Cook Islands, St Helena and Bahamas – with each country   issuing 1 Souvenir Sheet and 5 Commemorative Sheetlets. The first sets are released today to coincide with the anniversary of the Queen’s accession in 1952, the others follow later in the month.