Queen’s Head to Stay on Stamps

The Queen’s head will remain on stamps regardless of who buys the Royal Mail after the UK Government decided to amend its controversial privatisation legislation according to an article by Alan Jones on Britain's Press and Journal website.

Alan pens, "The government said that after listening to the views of members of both houses of parliament and raising the matter with Buckingham Palace, it had decided to build in a new safeguard.The Postal Services Bill, which receives its third reading in the Commons on Wednesday, will be amended to give ministers the power to require an image of the Queen to appear on postage stamps."

Postal Affairs Minister Ed Davey is quoted in the piece as saying, “At the moment there is no legal requirement for stamps to use the Queen’s head. Royal Mail has always done this voluntarily by convention as they are extremely proud of their royal connection."

Moya Greene, Royal Mail’s chief executive, is also quoted and points out, “The monarch’s head has been a key feature of Royal Mail stamps since the Penny Black was issued in 1840. We are very proud of our longstanding royal association. It’s unthinkable that Royal Mail stamps would not have the image of the monarch so we strongly support any measure that fully protects that key feature of our stamps.”

Shown above, the original 1966 photo of Queen Elizabeth II by John Hedgecoe which she approved for use on postage stamps in the UK and throughout the Commonwealth. Printed billions of times over the last four decades, it is likely that this is the most reproduced image in history.

To read the entire piece, click here.