Prince George of Cambridge celebrated by Australia Post

Australia Post celebrates the birth of the future King of Australia with a stamp.

Australia Post is celebrating the birth of Prince George to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with the release of an instant stamp sheetlet.

The stamp features an image of the Royal couple leaving St Mary’s Hospital Paddington with their newly-born son and will be available in a sheetlet of 10 x 60c stamps from participating Australia Post retail outlets from Monday, 29th July 2013.

The Prince was born on 22nd July at 4.24pm BST. The newest member of the Royal Family was introduced to the world the following day on the steps of the hospital, in the arms of his proud parents. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have since named their son George Alexander Louis.

“Australia Post is delighted to celebrate the birth of a baby boy to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, with a sheetlet of stamps that captures the first public appearance of the happy family,” said Australia Post Managing Director and CEO, Ahmed Fahour.

“We expect the instant stamps will be well received as was the Royal Wedding instant stamp sheetlet in 2011. We encourage stamp collectors and followers of special events to put their orders in early to avoid disappointment.”

The birth of a future monarch is always a highly anticipated event and the child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who will be third in line to the throne after Prince Charles and Prince William, was no exception.

The sons of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – Charles, Andrew and Edward – were born at Buckingham Palace, while Princess Anne was born at Clarence House. Today the preferred birthing facility used by the Royal Family is the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. The baby’s father Prince William was born there, as was his uncle Prince Harry.

A notice of the birth was attached to an ornate easel in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, with the media officially informed. There were royal gun salutes across London heralding the new arrival.

The designer of the stamp is Sonia Young of the Australia Post Design Studio. The associated products available are a commemorative cover, stamp pack, maxicard and a booklet of 10 x 60c self-adhesive stamps.

The Royal Baby stamp issue is available from 29th July 2013 at participating Australia Post retail outlets, via mail order on 1800 331 794 and online at www.auspost.com.au/stamps while stocks last.

Australia Post releases Diamond Jubilee Coronation stamps

Australia Post is celebrating the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation with the release of one domestic base-rate (60c) stamp and one international-rate ($2.60) stamp.

"Australia Post is delighted to recognise the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty's coronation with the release of this stamp issue," said Australia Post Philatelic Manager, Michael Zsolt. "We're pleased that this special stamp issue will be a great memento of this wonderful event for collectors and the public."

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place on 2nd June 1953 over twelve months after her accession. The Queen rode from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in the ornate Gold State Coach.

Prime Ministers and leading citizens of the Commonwealth countries, representatives of foreign states, hundreds of thousands of Britons and over 200,000 tourists from other countries arrived in London for the coronation. (Actually there were approximately three million spectators lining the procession and more than twenty million viewers around the world watched the coverage on television.)

During the coronation ceremony, Queen Elizabeth swore the coronation oath, undertaking to rule according to law, to exercise justice with mercy and to maintain the Church of England. She was then anointed, blessed and consecrated and crowned by the archbishop before trumpets sounded, the Abbey bells pealed, and guns at the Tower of London saluted.

The large-sized 60-cent stamp features the Gold State Coach which has been used for every coronation since that of King George IV in 1821. The photograph is by Tim Graham from Getty Images.

The $2.60 stamp features a photographic portrait of the newly-crowned monarch in 1953 and is a detail from a full formal portrait of the Queen and Prince Philip. The photograph was taken in Buckingham Palace by renowned photographer Cecil Beaton and is featured on the miniature sheet. The image comes from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

A special pack is available which features an embellished sheetlet of 10 x 60c double-definitive stamps housed in an attractive folder.

Other associated products include a first day cover, stamp pack, maxicard set of two, sheetlet of five x $2.60 self-adhesive stamps and a stamp and medallion cover.

The stamps and associated products were designed by Jo Mure of the Australia Post Design Studio. Jo's previous stamp issues include the Royal Wedding (2011) and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee (2012).

The Diamond Jubilee Coronation stamp issue is available from 9th April 2013 at participating Australia Post retail outlets, via mail order on 1800 331 794 and online at auspost.com.au/stamps while stocks last.

Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee stamps

Minisheet

First Day Cover

60 cent stamps

$2.35 stamps

Australia Post issued the stamps on 3rd April 2012. Details see here.

Australia's Queen's Diamond Jubilee stamps

From 3rd April the Queen's Diamond Jubilee stamps will be available at Australia Post offices. Usually at this time of the year Queen's Birthday stamps are issued, but for this special occasion of the Monarch's Diamond Jubilee, the jubilee takes precedence of Queen Elizabeth's birthday, which is on 21st April, but will be celebrated in most Australian states on 11th June 2012.


Australia Post's official presentation gives justified credit to Australia's Queen:
One of the major celebrations of 2012 is the Diamond Jubilee of the accession to the throne of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Australia Post has produced some very special products for collectors. The stamp issue presents a young monarch on the base rate stamp with the international stamp featuring the Queen as we know her today.

Royal jubilees celebrate significant periods of a monarch’s reign. In 2012, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, marking 60 years as Australia’s sovereign. She acceded to the throne on 6 February 1952, following the death of King George VI.

Throughout her reign the Queen’s priorities have been loyalty and service to her people. The Diamond Jubilee provides Australia – along with Britain and other Commonwealth countries – the opportunity to celebrate her dedication to duty, and the grace and strength she has brought to her public life and role of monarch.

Australia Post is commemorating the Royal Wedding

According to The Age more than 7 million Australians tuned in across the free-to-air networks, the bulk watching Seven (29.8 per cent) and Nine (22.7 per cent). The RadicalRoyalist could not get hold of the pay TV figures, but they must show a considerable number of viewers since many would have preferred the BBC or UK-TV's comments to the remarks of, let's say, Channel Nine's republican expat Kathy Lette.


Australia Post was commemorating the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton with the release of the official stamps issued on 12th April.


"Australia Post is delighted to commemorate the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, with a set of stamps that captures the happy couple on their wedding day," said Australia Post Managing Director and CEO, Ahmed Fahour.

"The official stamp issue has been very popular, with a number of post offices making additional orders to keep up with the strong demand. We are encouraging stamp collectors and royal fans to put their orders in early to avoid disappointment. Australia Post has a proud history of commemorating significant events with instant stamp issues."

The stamps with a motif of the actual wedding could be released within days of the wedding due to special technology that allows the images to be uploaded into a Royal Wedding stamp template, pre-approved by Buckingham Palace.


The stamps and associated products are available from participating Australia Post retail outlets, via mail order on 1800 331 794 and online at auspost.com.au/stamps while stocks last.

55 Years ago:
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia
For the Queen's 50th Coronation Jubilee the Australian Post issued the stamps shown above. Like all stamps giving reference to our sovereign, they were quickly sold out and are now precious collectors' items. This year's 55th coronation anniversary did not get as much attention as the Golden Jubilee one - very much as the Queen herself wanted it. Only in March this year, she cancelled a diamond wedding anniversary party, because of Britain's economic downturn. The party, for 60 close friends and relatives to celebrate her 60 years of marriage to Prince Philip, was due to take place at the Ritz in London. The Queen felt it would be "inappropriate", as the United Kingdom faced a recession. Although the party was planned and paid for by friends of the royal couple, she was thought it would have appeared insensitive at a time when people are tightening their belts.

The Queen was crowned on 2nd June 1953. This event was the focus for major pageantry and celebrations in Britain and throughout the Commonwealth. The files listed here illustrate some of the arrangements made by the Australian government in association with the event. Australia was invited to have representatives present at the ceremony itself and many celebrations in honour of the coronation occurred concurrently throughout Australia.

Amidst the official celebrations and ceremonies in London, 7 000 seats with a view of the coronation procession were allocated to Australians who would be in London for the event. Within Westminster Abbey itself, 250 seats were reserved for official Australian representatives. Within its official contingent, the Australian Government sent 250 representatives of the armed forces and seven parliamentary delegates to the coronation festivities.

Personal account of the Coronation by Harold Holt
Harold Holt [Australian Prime Minister from January 1966 to December 1967] and his wife Zara were in London for the duration of all the festivities arranged in conjunction with the coronation. On Wednesday, 27 May 1953, at one of the official pre coronation functions, Holt, the President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association made a speech addressed to the Queen. At the function itself, Holt sat to the right of the Queen, with the Duke of Edinburgh to her left. Despite his anxieties about his speech (‘I had to say [everything]… all in five minutes. An agony of the spirit for a politician accustomed to our own windy speech making.’) Holt called it ‘an unforgettable experience for me’.

These are celebration medals that were presented to Australians, awarded for attending, as an invited guest a Royal Occasion.

More on the medals on the digger history and on the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.