Sunday Stamps - May 19, 2024

Sunday Stamps

Royalty

There is certainly no shortage of royalty on postage stamps!  Especially the British royal family.  I've only include two of those royals since I find these stamps more interesting than some.

Left: 1901 Australia - Queen Victoria  It reads VICTORIA on top, not because of the image of the Queen, but because the stamp was issued in the Australian state of Victoria, a former British colony.   So, really, a double reason. A few of their Victorian issues featured King Edward VII, most Queen Victoria. 

Right: I had not seen a stamp with the image of Queen Elizabeth II as a child before, so had to share it in case you hadn't either.  Her she is at 12 years old on a 1938 stamp from Newfoundland.

I tried to travel around the globe for royalty (other than the British, as their images are on stamps from around the globe!).   

Left: 1952 Egypt - King Farouk  1951  Right: Thailand - King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who ruled for 70 years. 

Cuba 1896 - King Alfonso XIII on a newspaper postage stamp.

He was ten years old at the issue of this stamp.  A monarch at birth due to his father dying the year before.  He assumed full powers at age 16.  Before this though, Spain lost many of its colonies, including Cuba and Puerto Rico (which I also have a stamp of, but in poor condition).  His mother, an Austrian, didn't do a very good job ruling in his stead!

Speaking of Spain, this is an image of Queen Isabella (Isabella the Catholic) on a 1937-1938 stamp from Spain.   She was Queen of Castile and León, and after her marriage to King Ferdinand II, Queen of Aragon.  She accomplished much, yet is mostly remembered for sponsoring Columbus' voyage that led to the discovery (to the Europeans, as it wasn't a discovery by those already living there!) of the New World.  

Can you bear one more?  

I recently learned the Pope is technically a royal!  Vatican City, a sovereign country, is a theocratic absolute monarchy.  While the Pope is elected, his title is "King of the Ecclesiastical State," and as such is granted absolute power. 

Vatican City 1969

Pope Paul VI in Uganda, one of a series of three.

The text at the top translates, "The Shepherd of the Nations 1969."

That was a lot!   Fewer than what I started with,

Next week is Mountains.