New issues -
๐ฌ๐ง Royal Mail -
1 April 2023 - New definitive series, King Charles III.
In a shock last minute decision prior to the issue of the first definitive stamps depicting King Charles III in a few days time, Royal Mail has announced that the stamps to be issued will vary from the previously publicised designs by showing the King’s head looking to the right instead of to the left. This last minute change has not been explained so far except that it is “for operational reasons”. An illustration of the 1st Class Domestic rate stamp has been released but it is expected that the remaining four values to be released will be publicised on the actual day of issue itself. Royal Mail is recalling all examples of the stamps showing the king looking to the left distributed pre-release and will replace them with the new versions. One commentator has suggested that the last minute change has been made because officials at Buckingham Palace feel that the new version shows His Majesty’s ‘better side’, something of which they became aware during the King’s recent state visit to Germany when he made his speech to the the German parliament.
Post scriptum -
I have also managed to obtain an illustration of one of the upcoming Royal Mail Legend of Robin Hood stamps which confirms it will be something of a controversial set in the way it depicts this piece of classic English folklore and seems to be tied in more with celebrating the Centenary of an American film-making company than English traditional pseudo-history