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Special postage stamp with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (in Washington 1957)
Photo:
Royal Mail/AP
The Royal Mail is marking Queen Elizabeth II's forthcoming jubilee as Queen with eight new stamps.
The stamps show the monarch at various public appearances over the decades - at the side of her husband Prince Philip in Washington in 1957, at a military parade in 1978 or during a visit by the secret service MI6 in 2020.
This Sunday marks 70 years since Elizabeth became Queen.
Her father George VI.
died on February 6, 1952, leaving his eldest daughter at the age of 25 to succeed him.
»Homage to a remarkable life«
The oldest photos are in black and white, the rest in colour.
The PA news agency stressed the images also show the Queen's changing fashions over the years.
"These stamps are a celebration of the second Elizabethan era and a tribute to a remarkable life of duty and public service," said Royal Mail chief Simon Thompson.
Unlike usual, the stamps will not be adorned with a profile of the Queen – because the Queen can be seen anyway, this usual requirement is omitted.
The postal service also issued special stamps for the 25th, 50th and 60th anniversary of the throne.
The deadline for the 70th anniversary is already next Sunday.
But the biggest celebrations are not until the beginning of June - because of the presumably better weather.
Then, among other things, a big concert, a military parade and a thanksgiving service are planned.
There is an additional non-working holiday for the subjects.
Apart from that, events in honor of the Queen are planned again and again.
The deadline for participating in a nationwide baking competition ended on Friday evening: bakers aged eight and over were called upon to create a dessert called "Platinum Pudding".
The task follows the tradition of creating a pastry or dessert in honor of royal celebrations.
wit/dpa