Most of us imagine postage stamps with the iconic side profile of our former Queen, Elizabeth II. But since her death in September last year, and her son Charles becoming King, it was only a matter of time before it was his turn to feature on stamps all around the UK instead.
The Royal Mail has already revealed the design for new first and second class stamps showing King Charles III but now, the first ‘special’ collector’s set of stamps have been revealed, showing the silhouette of King Charles’ head, along with a variety of popular garden flowers.
It’s quite a poignant moment considering Her Majesty has been printed on our stamps since 1968, so it’s really lovely to see that these new floral stamps hold a personal meaning too. David Gold, Director of External Affairs and Policy at the Royal Mail, said using pictures of flowers for this set of stamps was to reflect that the King is a "passionate gardener". In fact, King Charles III is such a keen fan of nature and plants that he’s even co-authored a book, Highgrove: A Garden Celebrated, all about his very own back garden (which, as you might imagine, is rather expansive).
The new edition of stamps – which feature the likes of a sunflower, dahlia and rose – can be pre-ordered from Tuesday (14 March), and will go on general release next week. A set of 10 stamps featuring 10 different flowers will cost £9.50.
They're most likely going to be the first ones that the public see on a wide scale too, however stamps featuring Charles will not begin to appear consistently on letters until stocks of existing stamps showing the Queen’s head run out. Last month was the final release of stamps featuring the Queen.
It is estimated that the new King Charles version of regular first and second class stamps will begin to enter widespread circulation next month.
Chloe Bowen is Cosmopolitan UK’s former Features Intern. She holds undergraduate and masters degrees in journalism, and ever since joining the Cosmo team, Chloe writes about everything from sex and dating to mental health, culture, body image and books. In her spare time, she’s likely to be cooking up tasty vegan food, in a yoga class, binge-watching crime documentaries or going on long walks with an over-priced oat milk flat white.
