Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926. She was married at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947 to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice.
Issue information
Princess Elizabeth had a traditional royal childhood, she did not attend school but was tutored at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle by private tutors including Queen Mary, who taught her much about constitutional law and the role of the monarch. Whilst not excelling at academic subjects, Elizabeth developed an early interest in the arts and sport, especially in horse riding which she enjoys to this day.
Princess Elizabeth's teenage years were dominated by the Second World War. Like many London children she spent much of the war in the countryside to escape the nightly bombing raids. Towards the end of the war Elizabeth became a junior officer in the army and learned the un-Queenly trade of an army driver and mechanic. In 1947 she went to South Africa on her first official tour and in that year married Prince Philip of Greece.
When Elizabeth was 25, her father King George VI died of lung cancer. In a coronation service at Westminster Abbey in June 1953, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II. At her request the service was broadcast live and millions of people huddled into crowded living rooms to watch the service on television.
The redrawn design was necessary because the denomination on the original Queen Elizabeth low values attracted criticism as being too small, while the colours of the original 3d and 8d were considered too similar.
Acknowledgments
Historical Information
Information included on this page sourced from The Postage Stamps of New Zealand published by the Royal Philatelic Society of NZ. Their web site offers further information useful to those interested in the stamps and postal history of New Zealand. Link: https://www.rpsnz.org.nz/
Stamp Bulletin
Bulletin scanned and provided by John Biddlecombe of the New Zealand Society of Great Britain. Their web site offers further information useful to those interested in the stamps and postal history of New Zealand. Link: http://www.nzsgb.org.uk/
Stamp Bulletin
This stamp issue first appeared in New Zealand Post Stamp Bulletin No. 8 on 21 June 1955.
Product Listing for 1955 Queen Elizabeth II (redrawn design)
Click on image to enlarge.
Technical information
Date of issue: | 20 October 1955 |
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Designers: | L C Mitchell, Wellington |
Printers: | Bradbury Wilkinson, England |
Stamp size: | 20mm x 24mm |
Sheet size: | 240 stamps per sheet; Booklets containing 1d and 3d stamps |
Process: | Recess printed - Intaglio |
Perforation gauge: | 14 x 13.5 |
Paper type: | Wiggins Teape 'Royal Cypher' and 'Esparto', multiple NZ and star watermark |