3000. 🇬🇧🇧🇸🇬🇾🇦🇬 Caribbean King.

 

🇬🇧🇧🇸🇬🇾🇦🇬 King Charles III To Tour The Caribbean And Attend CHOGM In Antigua.

   The British monarch, King Charles III, is also Head of State of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Bahamas, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Belize, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. A number of the ‘Realms’ commemorated his succession and coronation with the release of postage stamps though notably quite a number of them did not - many of the Caribbean countries failed to commemorate their new Head of State philatelically and four years on still have not issued a single stamp depicting him. Some of the territories have an antipathy towards continuing to be ruled by a member of The House of Windsor who does not even live in those particular countries but bizarrely while many of their politicians prattle on about replacing the king with a republic they are very slow to do anything about it.

    The king himself will shortly undertake a royal tour to the Caribbean from 27 October to 4 November taking in three countries - two of his realms, Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, as well as paying  a state visit to the republic of Guyana which celebrates its 60th anniversary of the granting of its independence this year as well being able to heave a sigh of relief after Trump’s removal of the president of neighbouring Venezuala wbich had been threatening to invade Guyana in pursuit of its longstanding claim to about two thirds of Guyana’s  territory. King Charles’s visit to Antigua will include attendance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) to be held there. The government of Guyana seems to be quite excited to have King Charles visit the country as shown in one piece of the publicity. I have seen no news that stamps will be issued by any of the three countries to commemorate the royal visit but such issues are quite possible in the coming few days.

  Antigua and Barbuda will be the smallest country yet to host the CHOGM and it and the other West Indian territories see the event as an ideal opportunity to press the king and Burnham the British prime minister to apologise for Britain’s role in the slave trade which took place between two hundred and four hundred years ago and to demand billions of pounds worth of ‘reparations’ from Britain for capturing, enslaving and transporting their ancestors to the countries in which they now live.

  After 1807, the British attempted to make amends for the role they played in the barbarism of slavery by passing the Slave Trade Act which lead to the establishment of the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron which seized approximately 1600 foreign slave ships resulting in the liberation of about 150000 enslaved Africans while more than 1500 British sailors lost their lives in the pursuance of liberating the slaves by succumbing to tropical diseases such as yellow fever and malaria. At its peak, the campaign was consuming about 2%of Britain’s gross domestic product.

  Bizarrely, while still a British colony, St Christopher Nevis and Anguilla issued what was then a high value definitive inscribed, “English influence in the West Indies began with Hawkins and Drake mid 16th century” and depicted both of them on the stamp. Hawkins is notorious for his three slaving voyages in the first of which (1562-63) he sailed with three ships off the coast of West Africa and hijacked a Portuguese slave ship, saied it to Hispaniola and made a large profit selling the unfortunate victims, numbering three to five hundred souls. In his second voyage (1564-65) Hawkins sailing in a ship leased to him by none other than Queen Elizabeth I herself, captured about four hundred unfortunate Africans and sold them in Venezuala. His third voyage (1567-68) was shared with his cousin, Francis Drake, and resulted in 500 West African people being captured and enslaved but it all ended disastrously for the pair of them when a Spanish fleet attacked them off the coast of Mexico and destroyed most of their ships. 

  The king and the British politicians attending the Antigua CHOGM therefore seem to be in a difficult situation and it will be interesting to see how they handle the Caribbean leaders’ pressure on them. For we collectors of Commonwealth stamp new issues there may, or there may not, be some interesting new stamps in prospect associated with the king’s royal visits and events at the Commonwealth meeting in Antigua.

See Blog 1700.

Visits abroad by King Charles III since his succession -

29 - 31 March 2023 - Germany

2 - 6 June 2023 - Romania

20 - 22 September 2023 France

31 October - 3 November 2023 - Kenya

30 November - 1 December 2023 - United Arab Emirates

6 June 2024 - France

15 July 2024 - Jersey

16 July 2024 - Guernsey

18 - 23 October 2024 - Australia

24 - 26 October 2024 - Samoa (included attending CHOGM)

27 January 2025 - Poland

7 - 10 April 2025 - Italy

9 April 2025 - Vatican City

26 - 27 May 2025 - Canada

22 - 23 October 2025 - Vatican City

27 - 30 April 2026 - United States of America

1 - 2 May 2026 - Bermuda

14 July 2026 - Isle of Man

Upcoming royal visits abroad -

27 - 29 October 2026 - Bahamas

29 - 30 October 2026 - Guyana

1 - 4 November 2026 - Antigua and Barbuda 

2996. 🇲🇾 Malaysia’s World Post Day Issue.

 

New issues -

🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia -

9 October 2026 - World Post Day, “One postal network, infinite possibilities” - 1 stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- ***.

2027 New issue programmes.

🇬🇬 Guernsey Post -

🇬🇬 Issues inscribed Guernsey -

11 February - Guernsey parishes part 2

1 April - 1000 years of the Normans, joint issue with Jersey Post.

1 April - Post and Go stamps 

🇬🇬 Issues inscribed Alderney -

1 April - Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom

🇨🇶 Issues inscribed Sark - 

1 April - Sark butterflies 

🇨🇦 Alberta rejects Independence.

It appears that Alberta will not become an independent state separate from Canada as the early results of a referendum in the province suggest that a large majority of Alberta citizens have rejected the holding of a further referendum to decide on beginning the process of achieving separation from the rest of Canada. No independent Alberta postage stamps after all then.

See also Blog 2920.

2987. 🇬🇬 Guernsey Post To Issue Fourteen Stamps For Christmas 2026.

 

New issues -

🇬🇬 Guernsey Post -

Issue inscribed Guernsey -

2 November 2026 - Christmas, local interpretation of the nativity - 7 stamps. Designed by Charlie Buchanan and lithographed by bpost. Rating:- ***.

Issue inscribed Alderney

2 November 2026 - Christmas angels - 7 self-adhesive stamps.. Designed by Chloe Sarre and lithographed by bpost. Rating:- ***.

18 November2026 - 110th anniversary of the battle of the Somme, Guernsey’s contribution - 4 stamps. Lithographed. Rating:- ***.

And so, to a more  recent conflict -

🇮🇱 Israel Post -

This edition of Commonwealth Stamps Opinion is posted on 7 October 2026 which marks the third anniversary of the massacre in Israel of at least 1195 people - including 828 civilians and 38 children - and the taking of a large number of hostages by terrorist Palestinian groups including Hamas and other Islamist organisations. This act of terrorism in turn led to Israeli forces attacking the Hamas militants with the result that thousands of Palestinians in Gaza died during the ensuing war. Although there has been no stamp issue this year referring to the terrorist assault on innocent Israeli civilians, Israel Post did issue a single stamp one year ago to remember the victims of the terrorist attack of 7 October 2023 and to remind the world of the act of infamy which had the most severe consequences for the perpetrators and innocents alike.

2954. 🇻🇺 Delayed News From Vanuatu.

 

New Issues -

🇻🇺 Vanuatu Post -

15 March 2017 - 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and Vanuatu - in addition to the sheetlet of 8 stamps) reported in Blog 2078 it appears that a miniature sheet of the 2 stamps was also issued. Rating:- *****.

25 February 2022 - 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Vanuatu. Lithographed. It is possible that a miniature sheet containing the single stamp was also issued as there is a photograph taken at the launch of the issue naturally giving prominence to the officials, politicians and officials, showing a very unclear picture of what looks like a miniature sheet containing the aversion of the issued stamp. Rating:- *****.

These items are featured on the internet auction site of vmpetrol.

🇬🇬 Guernsey Post -

🇬🇬 🇬🇬 Issues inscribed Guernsey & issues inscribed Alderney -

1 September 2026 - ‘Man posted from Guernsey to Alderney’ - 4 stamps (2 se-tenant pairs). Designed by Keith Robinson and lithographed by bpost. Rating:- 0.

🇬🇬🇨🇶 Issues inscribed Guernsey and issues inscribed Sark -

1  September 2026 - ‘Man posted from Guernsey to Sark - 4 stamps in 2 se-tenant pairs. Designed by Keith Robinson and lithographed by bpost. Rating:- 0.

Total cost of above items - £16!

2951. 🇳🇦 Chameleons Featured On Namibian Miniature Sheet.

 

New issues -

🇳🇦 Nam Post, postal service of Namibia -

8 May 2026 - Chameleons of Namibia - 1 miniature sheet containing 2 different stamps. Designed by Helge Denker & lithographed. Rating - *****.

🇬🇧 Royal Mail -

14 October 2026 - pure speculation, but the proposed issue for this date remains “TBA”. Those interested in history will recall that the date is the 960th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings when the last English king of England, Harold II, fought Guillaume le Bâtarde, the Duke of Normandy, for the English crown and was killed, possibly by being shot in the eye with an arrow, at the Battle of Hastings.

  This year, the Bayeux Tapestry, a monumental work of embroidery 70 metres in length and 50cm high  and depicting 58 scenes, produced in England possibly on behalf of the Norman Duke’s wife, Mathilde, in the years after the battle and subsequently taken to Bayeux Cathedral where it was housed for centuries and is now normally housed in a bespoke building, the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeux, has been brought  back to England for the first time in 900 years and is on display in the British Museum for several months.

  The return of the embroidery to its homeland for several months is an important cultural event for the English and very worthy of a stamp issue. Perhaps therefore the TBA issue of 14 October will feature the Bayeux Tapestry and commemorate its return to England. Unlike the World Cup the Bayeaux Tapestry has finally made it home. Let’s hope the English do not have to wait 900 years for World Cup to arrive back in the Sceptred Isle although, according to the song, it appears to be perpetually “coming home”.

  Scenes from the  Bayeux Tapestry were depicted on the set of 8 stamps (a setenant strip of 6 plus two  singles (6d & 1/3d)) designed by the genius David Gentleman, issued by the British Post Office in 1966 to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings:-

  The end of the story is missing on the Bayeux Tapestry and so Guernsey Post released a set of 6 stamps and a very interesting miniature sheet printed on combed cotton inscribed Alderney which depicted likely scenes from the missing ‘final panel’. These had been featured on a real three metre-long embroidered ‘tapestry’ produced in Alderney. These were issued on 28 May 2014 and the collection included a prestige booklet sold for £14.44.

  Guernsey Post also released a set of 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet, again inscribed ‘Alderney’,  designed by Nick Watton on 14 September 2016 to commemorate the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. The front cover of the presentation pack depicted William being crowned on 25 December 2025.

  The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) postal service issued a single stamp depicting the Battle of Hastings in 2010 as part of a set depicting important battles in British history (Diego Garcia is a strategically important US-British base hence military-themed stamps seem appropriate).

  And let us not forget the postal service of France’s single stamp released in 1966 to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.