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A red stamp album containing stamps acquired by King George V HISTORY OF THE COLLECTION The Royal Philatelic Collection began in a small way through the enthusiasm of a young, stamp-collecting prince. In 1856, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and his younger brother Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s second son and later Duke of Edinburgh, were given panes of the soon to be issued new 6d stamps. Alfred became a serious stamp collector. He put together a small collection and served as Honorary President of what is now the Royal Philatelic Society London from 1890 until his death. Before his death in 1900, the Duke of Edinburgh sold his collection to his older brother, who in turn gave it to his son, the Duke of York. He was already a very keen collector, and once wrote to his philatelic adviser, J. A. Tilleard: “I wish to have the best collection & not one of the best collections in England.” In March 1893 he was elected Honorary Life Vice-President of the Royal Philatelic Society. On his marriage later in the year, fellow members of the Society gave him an album of postage stamps as a wedding present. It contained nearly 1,500 contributions from over 100 of the Society’s members. In 1896 the Duke of York accepted the invitation to become Executive President of the Society, a position he held until 1910 when he came to the Throne. He recognised rarity and made every effort to obtain the rarest stamps at the first possible opportunity. By 1904 he had acquired both the Penny and Two Pence ‘Post Office’ Mauritius of 1847 – the first stamps issued by a colonial post office and probably the most prized stamps that any collector could wish to acquire. The 1d was bought from the Earl of Kintore’s collection, while the unused Two Pence ‘Post Office’ Mauritius was acquired at auction in 1904 for a then-record price of £1,450. A courtier asked the Prince if he had seen that “some damned fool had paid as much as 1400 pounds for one stamp”. “Yes,” came the reply. “I was that damned fool!” In 1906 he decided to confine his collection almost entirely to the stamps of Great Britain and the Empire. |
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Tradition has it when King George V was in London he spent three afternoons a week with his stamp collection. He was very rarely interrupted. The Duke of York succeeded his father as King George V on 6 May 1910. As the 70th anniversary of the penny black, it was perhaps an appropriate date for the accession of a king who became one of the most renowned philatelists of his time. He also took a great interest in stamp design. Once the stamp-sized artists’ sketches, which were submitted for his approval, had been used by the printers, they were usually returned for inclusion in his collection. Today King George V’s collection is housed in 328 red albums, each of around 60 pages. After the death of King George V, Edward VIII became King. He is said to have considered selling the Royal Philatelic Collection but did not do so. Although the Collection is the personal asset of the Sovereign, it was, and is, regarded as an heirloom to pass down. After Edward VIII’s short reign, his brother, King George VI, inherited the Collection. While he did not have George V’s specialised knowledge, he did take considerable interest and the Collection continued to expand, with presented and bought material which is now largely mounted in blue albums and boxes. During The Queen’s reign a considerable volume of material has been acquired. These acquisitions are to be kept in green albums and boxes, although much has yet to be mounted. George V St. James’s Palace SUGGESTED LINKS |
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