Two sets of Kings & Queens stamps will be issued in 2010. The House of Stuart is the fourth in the series, following on from the Scottish House of Stewart issued in March, The first in the series was the Houses of Lancaster and York, and the second was the House of Tudor.
With no direct descendants, Elizabeth became the last monarch of the House of Tudor and King James VI of Scotland acceded to the throne of England. This created The Union of the Crowns which brought England and Scotland under one monarch. James was the first cousin (twice removed) of Elizabeth and he was also the great grandson of Henry VIII’s sister Margaret Tudor who married James IV of Scotland. As the first of the Stuart Kings of England, James VI/I is the only monarch to feature in two sets of the Kings and Queens stamps. This, the fourth in the Kings and Queens series, looks at the Kings and Queens from James I up until the death of Queen Anne in 1714.
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1st class: James I (1603-25) & Charles I (1625-1649); 60p Charles II (1660-1685) & James II (1685-1688); 67p William III (1689-1702) & Mary II (1689-1694) 88p Queen Anne (1702-1714) |
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The MS takes a separate look at the life and times of the age, featuring events and individuals from the reigns. The events & people featured are: 1st class William Harvey (1578 – 1657) English physician; 60p English Civil War, Battle of Naseby 1645. 88p John Milton (1608 - 1674), poet author and civil servant during the Commonwealth period. 97p Castle Howard, designed by John Vanbrugh (1664 - 1726) The border design features a timeline of the period.
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Acknowledgements: James VI and I, c.1606, John De Critz, reproduced by permission of the Trustees of Dulwich Picture Gallery; Charles I (1600–49), 1635, Sir Anthony Van Dyck; Charles II (1630–85), c.1665–70, Sir Peter Lely; Queen Anne (1665–1714), c.1702–14, Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646?–1723), all from The Royal Collection © 2010, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; James II (1633–1701), c.1686, Nicolas de Largillière © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London; William III (1650–1702), 1690, attributed to Sir Godfrey Kneller © courtesy of the Bank of England; Queen Mary II, 1677, Peter Lely © National Portrait Gallery, London; William Harvey portrait by an unknown artist © Royal College of Physicians, London; His Excellencie Sr Thomas Fairfax K, Generall of the forces raised by the Parliament, 1647, Edward Bower © Trustees of the British Museum; John Milton portrait by unknown artist, c.1629 © National Portrait Gallery, London; Castle Howard, Yorkshire: elevation of entrance front from Colen Campbell’s Vitruvius Britannicus (London, 1715) © RIBA Library Drawings Collection |
1st
Class – James I (1603 - 1625) James
became King of Scots as James VI on 24 July 1567, when he was just
thirteen months old, succeeding his mother Mary, Queen of Scots.
Regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578,
though he did not gain full control of his government until 1581. On 24
March 1603, as James I, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England
and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He then ruled
the England, Scotland, and Ireland for 22 years, often using
the title King of Great Britain, until his death at the age of 58.
Under James, the "Golden Age" of Elizabethan literature and drama
continued, with writers such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben
Jonson and Sir Francis Bacon contributing to a flourishing literary
culture. James himself was a talented scholar, the author of works such
as Daemonologie (1597), True Law of Free Monarchies (1598), and
Basilikon Doron (1599). Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been
termed "the wisest fool in Christendom", an epithet associated with his
character ever since.
1st Class –
Charles I (1625-1649) The
second son of James VI of Scots and I of England, was King of England,
Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles
famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of
England. He was an advocate of the divine right of kings.
Many of his English subjects opposed his actions which, particularly in
relation to interference in the English and Scottish Churches, and the
levying of taxes without parliamentary consent, grew to be seen as
those of a tyrannical absolute monarch.
His last years were marked by the English Civil War, in which he fought
the forces of the English and Scottish Parliaments, which challenged
his attempts to augment his own power, and the Puritans, who were
hostile to his religious policies and supposed Catholic sympathies.
Charles was defeated in the First Civil War (1642–45), after
which Parliament expected him to accept its demands for a
constitutional monarchy. He instead remained defiant by attempting to
forge an alliance with Scotland and escaping to the Isle of Wight. This
provoked the Second Civil War (1648–49) and a second defeat
for Charles, who was subsequently captured, tried, convicted, and
executed for high treason. The monarchy was then abolished and a
republic called the Commonwealth of England, also referred to as the
Cromwellian Interregnum, was declared.
The
designs are by Atelier
Works, and the 27 x 37mm stamps are printed in lithography by Cartor
Security
Printers, Meacé, France, in sheets of 25/50, perf 14 x 14.
The miniature sheet is 123 x 70mm, also perf 14 x 14.
All images
are Copyright Royal Mail 2010.
Products available:
Mint set
Mint miniature sheet
Presentation Pack (set & MS)
First day covers
Set of 11 Stamp Cards
Special
Postmarks
Postmarks available for the day of issue will be shown here.
these may not be to scale.
These
postmarks cannot be obtained after the date of issue.
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Ref FD1025 Philatelic Bureau Official Postmark |
Ref FD1026 Royal Oak, Filey, Official Postmark - Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties: John Milton. | Ref FD1026N Royal Oak, Filey non-pictorial postmark. | Ref L11774 First day of issue Kensington Palace Timeline postmark | Ref M11781 Stuart Road, Birmingham - showing Charles I |
Ref M11783 Naseby, Northampton | Ref L11773 350th Anniv of the Restoration, London WC1 | Ref L11776 London | Ref L11775 London SW1 | Ref L11777 Whitehall, London SW1 |
Ref L11770 London | Ref L11779 - Stuart Street London N14 | Ref M11784 Worcester, (showing Charles I) | S11786 Wigtown, Newton Stewart | Ref: S4653 St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh |
Ref
L11551 History of the Monarchy, Westminster, London SW1 |
Ref
S11787 The Third Civil War 1649-1651, The Battle of Dunbar 1650, Dunbar East Lothian |
Ref
L4680 Windsor Castle |
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This page updated 4 June 2010