COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE
Diamond Wedding Anniversary
Issue Date: 20 November 2007
The 60th Wedding Anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip this year on 20th November will mark the first ever Diamond Wedding Anniversary in British Royal History. To celebrate this significant occasion the Falkland Islands Post Office is releasing a very dignified single stamp showing the cameo profiles of Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh against a Jasper Blue background.
According to the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, no descendant of King George II under the age of twenty-five was permitted to enter into a valid marriage without the approval of the Sovereign. This is why, on 31st July 1947, fourteen Privy Councillors assembled at Buckingham Palace to hear the King declare his consent to a contract of matrimony between his twenty-one year old daughter Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, R.N. Among the witnesses were the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Prime Minister and Mr Winston Churchill. Following this historic meeting, that evening the King and Queen announced that the Wedding would take place on 20th November at Buckingham Palace.
In September 1947, the names of the eight Bridesmaids and two page boys were announced. They were H.R.H The Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Lady Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Lady Mary Cambridge, Lady Elizabeth Lambart, The Hon. Margaret Pamela Mountbatten, The Hon. Margaret Elphinstone, The Hon. Diana Bowes-Lyon, Prince William of Gloucester and Prince Michael of Kent.
The week of the Royal Wedding brought to London an air of bustling activity. Flags were brought out to decorate façades, masts carrying banners of the ciphers 'E' and 'P' were erected around the Queen Victoria Memorial Gardens and Wedding presents for the Princess and Lieutenant Mountbatten were arriving from every part of the World. On the morning before the Wedding the bridal gown of rich ivory Duchesse satin arrived at Buckingham Palace, which was to be complimented on the Wedding day by a bridal bouquet of white orchids.
Crowds lined the route from Buckingham Palace up through Admiralty Arch and along to Westminster Abbey where some two thousand guests had gathered to witness the Royal Wedding Ceremony. Whilst awaiting the arrival of the Bride, the congregation were treated to a glorious scene inside the Abbey, which was ablaze with colour from the scarlet and gold uniforms of the Yeomen of the Guards to the colourful embroideries that hung from the High Altar.
On the arrival of Princess Elizabeth, the pages lifted the bridal train and the bridesmaids took to their positions as she walked down the aisle leaning upon the arm of her father. As the ceremony continued, kneeling before the Archbishop of York, the bride and groom exchanged vows and were pronounced man and wife.
This is a truly historic anniversary and one which is complemented by this single new stamp.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Artist: Andrew Robinson
Printer: BDT International Security Printing
Process: Lithography
Perforation: 14 per 2cms
Stamp size: 28.45 x 42.58mm
Sheet Layout: 50 (2x25)
Release date: 20th November 2007
Production Co-ordination: Creative Direction (Worldwide) Ltd
Copyright: FI Philatelic Bureau Created and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited