King Charles Coronation stamps unveiled: Tony Benn on removing the Monarch’s head from stamps
The Royal Mail has previously released pictures of the first set of postage stamps to feature King Charles. They featured flowers reflecting his interests in the natural world and gardens. It has now also released a special set of four Coronation Stamps. Probably all concerned could have done without the commendation delivered by current Royal Mail CEO Simon Thompson.
There is however history to the monarch’s head appearing on stamps. When he was Postmaster General in the 1964 Labour Government Tony Benn tried to persuade Queen Elizabeth that not all stamp designs should have the monarch’s head on them. He had a 40 minute with the Queen at Buckingham Palace where he showed her designs. He noted in his Diary for March 1965 (25th February)that she appeared non-committal but the monarch’s head remains in place!
On 15th February Benn recorded that he had a breakfast meeting with designer David Gentleman ‘one of the best stamp designers in the country’ who told Benn that it was impossible to get a ‘decent quality of stamps in this country until the Queen’s head was removed’
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