2904. 🇧🇲 Bermuda Commemorates Royal Visit.

 

New issues -

🇧🇲 Bermuda postal service -

30 April 2026 -Royal visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla to Bermuda (30 April - 1 May) - 1 previously issued high value stamp overprinted. Rating:- ***.

🇲🇲 Myanmar Post -

30 April 2026 - 70th anniversary of the 6th Buddhist Council - 7 stamps. Lithographed by Wazi Security Printing Works. Rating- *****.

Commonwealth countries and territories not known to have issued, or had issued on their behalf, any legitimate postage stamps during 2025 up until the end of April.

Anguilla 

Antigua and Barbuda 

Australia Cocos (Keeling) Islands 

Australia Norfolk Island 

Australian Antarctic Territory 

Barbados 

Belize 

Botswana 

British Antarctic Territory 

British Indian Ocean Territory 

British Virgin Islands 

Cameroon

Cook Islands including Rarotonga

Cook Islands Aitutaki 

Cook Islands Penrhyn

Dominica 

Gabon

Grenada 

Grenada Carriacou and Petite Martinique 

Guyana 

Jamaica 

Kenya

Kingdom of eSwatini 

Kiribati 

Lesotho 

Malawi

Maldives 

Mauritius 

Montserrat 

Mozambique 

Nevis

New Zealand Ross Dependency 

Niue

Papua New Guinea 

Pitcairn Islands 

Rwanda

St Helena 

St Kitts/St Kitts Nevis

St Vincent and the Grenadines 

Samoa 

Seychelles 

Solomon Islands 

Tokelau 

Tonga

Tonga Niuafo’ou 

Trinidad and Tobago 

Turks and Caicos Islands 

Tuvalu 

Uganda 

United Republic of Tanzania 

Vanuatu 

Zambia 

Therefore at the end of April, 52 out of 88 (59.1%) Commonwealth philatelic entities have not issued or are not known to have issued, or have had issued on their behalf, any legitimate postage stamps in 2026. This compares with 64.8%at the end of March 2026  and 63.6% at the end of April 2025.

2876. Commonwealth Day 2026.

 

Commonwealth Day

The annual Commonwealth Day ‘celebrations’ take place this year on Monday 9 March (the event traditionally takes place on the second Monday of March).

Every year there is a new theme - in 2026 it is “Unlocking opportunities together for a prosperous Commonwealth”.  This year finds relative upheaval in The Commonwealth with Mauritius having broken off diplomatic relations with its Indian Ocean neighbour Maldives because the latter will not support the former’s attempt to take the British Indian Ocean Territory off the hands of the United Kingdom together with more than £30 billion. Though the hapless British prime minister, Starmer, has signed a treaty with Mauritius, its journey through the British Parliament has stalled and the corrupt Mauritius government,  badly in need of the British money to balance its budget, is threatening to take the United Kingdom to court over its failure to handover the money and the islands.

  Meanwhile, Starmer finds himself in more trouble because of his initial failure to support Trump in the Middle East War and Britain’s failure to take swift enough measures to help to defend former British protected states and present allies in the Gulf - Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait as well as the British Sovereign Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia which has implications for the security of Cyprus. What Trump hasn’t said about Starmer is anybody’s business.

  Elsewhere Pakistan is effectively at war with its neighbour Afghanistan though Guyana is looking safe from invasion by its neighbour Venezuala now that Trump has kidnapped the Venezuelan despot, Maduro, and removed him from office.

Regardless of all this, Happy Commonwealth Day!

New issues -

🇬🇧 Royal Mail -

27 March 2026 - Definitives in new values to cover increased overseas rates - 3 stamps, £3.60 (‘purple heather’), £3.80 (‘aqua green’) and £4.60 (‘sapphic blue’). Code - M26L MAIL. Rating:- ****. These stamps are described and illustrated in the always invaluable online Norvic Stamp Blog.

Meanwhile, if you feel that you have not already spent an adequate amount of money on Royal Mail products, you may wish to consider purchasing the latest little temptations recently added to the Royal Mail internet site. Or you may not.

2837. 🇬🇧 Royal Mail Issue To Feature Stranger Things.

 

🇬🇧 Royal Mail -

13 January 2026 - Stranger Things - It appears that the first issue of 2026 (made up of a multitude of expensive products) will be on the subject of a Netflix television  programme titled Stranger Things with which I am wholly unfamiliar but which is described by Wikipedia as an “American series … the first season was released on Netflix on July 15 2016” and “the fifth and final season is being released in three parts in November and December 2025”. Wikipedia informs us that the programme combines “elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, fantasy and coming of age drama”. Presumably this is one of those cult productions which few know about but those who do are prepared to spend a lot of money on items related to it. 

Rating:- 0.

🇬🇧 Postal service of the British Antarctic Territory -

I reproduce below news of a new postbox presented to the territory by HM King Charles III as described by the BBC News internet page -

New issues -

🇴🇲 Oman Post -

10 December 2025 - Joint issue with the Russian postal service, 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries- explorers Ahmed bin Majid and Alana’s Nikitin  - 1 stamp issued in sheetlets of 9 and 1 miniature sheet containing a single circular stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- ****.

🇬🇧 Royal Mail -

16 December 2025 - 250th birth anniversary of Jane Austen, author of novels - 1 ‘Collector sheet’ containing 10 identical‘Union Flag’ stamps with attached labels and sold at a premium (£18.20). Rating:- *.

2828. 🇬🇧 Victoria And Her Stamps.

 

New issues -

🇬🇧 Royal Mail - 

27 November 2025 - The stamps of Queen Victoria - 8 stamps issued in 2 se-tenant strips of 4 (cost £13.60), 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps (£6.80), 1 booklet containing 4 x self-adhesive Penny Black design stamps, photogravure printed (£6.80), 1 Prestige booklet containing 4 panes including 1 pane of Charles III definitives - 2 x 1p, 1 x 20 and 1 x £3.40 - (£25.35) and 1 ‘Collectors sheet’ containing 10 stamps (1 each of 6 stamps and 2 each of the other two stamps (£18.20). Designed by Steers McGillan Eves and lithographed by Cartor and perforated 14. This issue was described and shown in Blog 2825 but more details and better quality illustrations are included here.

Total cost of the above - £70.85!

2801. 🇮🇲 Manx Brewing Celebrated.

 

New issues -

🇦🇺 Australia Post -

28 October 2025 - The King’s Birthday, 77th birthday of King Charles III - 2 gummed stamps and 2 self-adhesive stamps and 1 gummed miniature sheet containing both stamps. Designed by Jo Muré and lithographed by RA Printing (gummed items) and perforated 14.5 x 14 ($1.70) and 14 x 14.5 ($4.35). Rating:- ****.

🇮🇲 Isle Of Man Office -

10 October 2025 - Manx brewing anniversaries - 6 stamps. Designed by Ashgrove Marketing and lithographed. Rating:- ***.

🇮🇳 India Post -

2025 - My stamp personalised stamp, 16th AADHAR Day (AADHAR is described as “India’s unique identification system”) - 1 stamp with attached label produced in sheetlets of 12 and sold by India Post at a premium. 

🇲🇼 Malawi postal service -

?2025 - Previously issued Butterflies definitive stamp reissued with surcharge K10 on K65 applied to it. See also Blog 2777. Rating:- *****.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong Post -

21 October 2025 - Aviation development in Hong Kong  - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Designed by Kar-wei cheng and lithographed by Enschedé and perforated 13.5 x 14.5. Rating:- ***.