XANTHE'S
STAMP MAGAZINE

It's been four weeks since Royal Mail's last stamps (100 Years since the Birth of Queen Elizabeth II) so surely there must be another issue soon? Of course there will be - from Thursday you will be able to buy this set of castles from your local post office. Actually, you probably won't, but you get the point. When I read the Royal Mail stamp calendar for 2026 I wasn't too excited about castles. That isn't because I'm not interested in castles because I really am and i have

On 21st April 1926, a baby was born. Her parents were the Duke and Duchess of York. No-one at the time expected that the Duke of York would become king, and definitely wouldn't have imagined that the baby would become the longest-reigning queen in world history. Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 and there were several stamps issued to celebrate her life and reign. Not surprisingly, there will also be stamps to mark what would have been her 100th birthday on Tuesday. A

A few weeks ago, I wrote this letter to Royal Mail . I am pleased to say that Royal Mail have replied, so I am sharing the response here. Firstly, I'd like to thank Royal Mail for taking the time to respond. Secondly, I think there is some useful information within this letter especially about the history of commemorative stamps, timescales, the role of the Stamp Advisory Committee and the fact that you can send suggestions to the Stamp Programme manager. I knew some of this

Royal Mail issued 16 sets in 2025; a year pack would put you back £275.00 As regular readers will see, my reviews of Royal Mail stamps often don't score very highly. And of course there are reasons for that - Royal Mail's recent stamps simply aren't as good as stamps that are being issued by other postal administrations. I'm not saying that Jersey Post, Isle of Man Stamps, La Poste or Posti get everything right but I always look forward to their next issues because I know the

Royal Mail's fifth issue of the year will be released on 20th March and celebrates The Lord of the Rings . It's 25 years since the first LOTR film, The Fellowship of the Ring , hit UK cinemas. I believe that, at the time, this was a sensational film that exceeded many people's expectations. It took the fantasy adventures from JRR Tolkien's famous novel and turned it into a gripping film, with believable battle scenes and probably the first realistic digitally-created charact

The next issue for Royal Mail is Monopoly and will be released on 16th October. This is to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the board...

Royal Mail's next issue, due to be released in Thursday, depicts British ducks. A GB issue dedicated to ducks is long overdue. While...