COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

Diana, Princess of Wales

Issue Date: 31st August 2007








Whilst it is not unusual for tributes to those who have died to concentrate on recounting their history and achievements, in the case of the late Diana Princess of Wales, this is superfluous as there can hardly be a single person on the planet who does not know her story.

This, the 10th Anniversary of her untimely death, coincides with the 25th Anniversary of Liberation of the Falkland Islands which has seen a combination of celebrations by those involved and great sadness for those who are no longer with us.

The Princess possessed the gift to reach out and touch those who suffer and used her influential status to positively assist an array of charitable projects including her campaigning against landmines - a cause for which The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.

The Falkland Islands Post Office feel it only appropriate that they should honour the late Diana by depicting her on a single stamp showing her in Angola walking through a minefield as part of her personal challenge to try to change a small piece of the world. As we heard during the charity memorial concert for Diana earlier this year, so keen was Diana for these images to be seen around the world that she offered to complete the walk a second time.

The single stamp which has a face value of 60p is produced in sheetlets of eight stamps and two labels.

The labels depict the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, now Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, taken in 1983 whilst viewing a minefield in the Falkland Islands shortly after Liberation. In the surround of the sheetlet is printed the staggering information "It is estimated that 20,000 land mines still remain in the Falkland Islands in an area covering approximately 20 square kilometres". The wording 25th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Falkland Islands appears on the labels only. The First Day Cover continues with this theme with another image of Diana in protective clothing by a sign containing a skull and crossbones with the Portuguese wording "PERIGO MINAS!" and "Danger Mines". The Falkland Islands Post Office hopes that this tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales will help to remind the world of the importance of those causes which she so fondly embraced and some of which are sadly still relevant today.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Designer: Jason Witchard
Photographs: Alpha Photo Press Agency Ltd
Printer: BDT International
Process: Lithography
Perforation: 14 per 2cms
Stamp size: 28.45 x 42.58mm
Sheet Layout: 8 (2x4)
Release date: 31st August 2007
Production Co-ordination: Creative Direction (Worldwide) Ltd



Copyright: FI Philatelic Bureau Created and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited