Designer kept posted on coronation

Kate Stephens says the stamps also reflect the Golden Jubilee

A Devon designer has created a special set of stamps to mark the 50th anniversary of the Coronation of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Graphic designer Kate Stephens, from Dartmouth, has used a mixture of black-and-white and colour pictures in the set of 10 stamps.

As well as featuring the coronation ceremony itself, the set also shows several scenes of the public celebrating Queen Elizabeth's crowning in June 1953.

The new stamps will go on sale from Monday.

Jubilee response

Creating Royal stamps has become a regular occurrence for Kate Stephens. This is the third set of Royal issue stamps she has designed.

Last year, she created the Golden Jubilee stamps, and, in 1997, she produced designs showing Henry VIII.

It has taken a lot of work to get the images she wanted and the design just right.

She said: "The project really reflected what went on in the course of last year during the Golden Jubilee.

"As the year developed, the response of the people was more and more overwhelming. So, it was just obvious we needed to show the people's response at the time instead of just the pageantry."

The stamps depict Coronation and street party scenes

One stamp features girls from Holly Croft School in Plymouth enjoying the celebrations.

Picture stamps normally have to have the Queen's head on them in the corner, but one stamp, showing Cecil Beaton's portrait of the Queen, does not need it because she is already featured.

Kate Stevens carried out the work at her home near Dartmouth and found that being in the South West has not really hindered her.

She said: "You deal with people on the phone and mostly things are done on computer. You work with e-mails and I sent things to the Royal Mail during the process of working on ISDN lines."

Gavin Macrae, of the Royal Mail, said: "The Coronation was a truly unforgettable event that was celebrated across Britain and around the world.

"We hope these stamps will bring back special memories."