View source for Isle of Man – Royal Wedding – 1973

{{#vardefine:stamp-count|0}}

{{FDC issue
|fdc-image=IM-Royal-Wedding-1973-FDC.jpg
|fdc-back-image=N/A
|country=Isle of Man
|country-code=[[wikipedia:en:Isle of Man|IM]]
|issue-title=Royal Wedding
|issue-date=14 November 1973
|withdrawn-date=13 November 1974 (SG 41 withdrawn from sale)
|quantity-sold=400,813
|sold-out=
|year=1973
|stamp-type=[[wikipedia:en:Commemorative stamp|Commemorative stamp]]
|stamp-subtype=Wedding
|theme=Royal wedding; Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips
|text-credit=
|designer=A. S. Larkins
|printer=[[wikipedia:en:De La Rue|Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd.]], Basingstoke, Hampshire
|printing-process=[[wikipedia:en:Lithography|Lithography]] (catalogue description)
|colours=Multicoloured; three colours
|paper-gum=White paper; gum not specified
|perforation=13½
|stamp-dimensions=52 × 36 mm, perforation to perforation
|issue-format=Sheets of 50 stamps (catalogue description)
|cover-type=[[wikipedia:en:First day of issue|Official first day cover]]
|cover-producer=[[wikipedia:en:Isle of Man Post Office|Isle of Man Post Office Authority]]
|cover-reference=
|limited-edition=No
|edition-limit=
|copy-number=
|cachet=Illustration of the west front of Westminster Abbey against a blue background, with “OFFICIAL FIRST DAY COVER”, the date 14 November 1973 and the Isle of Man Post Office Authority name.
|addressed=Yes
|postmark-type=Pictorial first day of issue handstamp
|postmark-location=Douglas, Isle of Man
|postmark-date=14 November 1973
|postmark-inscription=FIRST DAY OF ISSUE / 14th NOVEMBER / 1973 / DOUGLAS I.O.M.
|postmark-notes=The design incorporates interlaced ornament linking alpha and omega symbols. The lower wording overlaps the recipient’s name.
|postmark-image=IM-Royal-Wedding-1973-postmark.jpg
|postmark-additional-image-1=
|postmark-additional-image-2=
|signed=No
|signed-by=
|signature-details=
|information-sheet=Yes
|information-materials=Single-sided information card
|information-sheet-title=Royal Wedding stamp issue information card
|information-sheet-image=IM-Royal-Wedding-1973-information-card-front.jpg
|information-sheet-back-image=No
|information-sheet-notes=Describes the portrait sources, decorative motifs and technical details. The reverse is blank.
|authenticity-certificate=No
|authenticity-certificate-image=
|authenticity-certificate-back-image=
|fdc-owned=Yes
|condition=
|collection-comment=Owned. Addressed cover with a blank reverse; accompanied by a single-sided information card. The recipient’s name and address are concealed in the published cover and postmark images for privacy. The original cover is addressed.
}}

The Isle of Man issued a '''25p stamp''' on '''14 November 1973''' to commemorate the [[wikipedia:en:Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips|wedding of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips]]. The stamp is catalogued as [[IM-SG-41|SG 41]], and Stanley Gibbons lists a first day cover for the issue.<ref name="SG2022-wedding">{{Cite Catalogue
|author=Stanley Gibbons
|title=Channel Islands and Isle of Man 2022 Edition Stamp Catalogue
|edition=31st combined edition
|publisher=Stanley Gibbons
|year=2022
|section=Isle of Man
|page=199
|catalogue=Stanley Gibbons
|catalogue-number=41
|isbn=978-1-911304-89-0
|notes=Place of publication: Ringwood.
}}</ref>

== Owned cover ==

The collection holds an addressed official first day cover produced by the [[wikipedia:en:Isle of Man Post Office|Isle of Man Post Office Authority]]. Its cachet depicts the west front of [[wikipedia:en:Westminster Abbey|Westminster Abbey]] against a blue background. The cover bears one 25p stamp and a pictorial Douglas first day of issue handstamp dated 14 November 1973. The handstamp incorporates interlaced ornament linking alpha and omega symbols; its lower wording overlaps the recipient’s name.<ref name="owned-wedding-cover">{{Cite
|title=Royal Wedding official first day cover
|type=First day cover
|publisher=Isle of Man Post Office Authority
|notes=Owned specimen, illustrated at [[:File:IM-Royal-Wedding-1973-FDC.jpg|cover scan]] and [[:File:IM-Royal-Wedding-1973-postmark.jpg|postmark detail]]. The cover is addressed and its reverse is blank.
}}</ref>

A single-sided information card accompanies the cover. Its reverse is blank.<ref name="wedding-card">{{Cite
|title=Royal Wedding stamp issue information card
|type=Information card
|notes=Owned single-sided card, illustrated at [[:File:IM-Royal-Wedding-1973-information-card-front.jpg|information card scan]]. The card gives the stamp issue date as 14 November 1973; a separate publication date is not stated.
}}</ref>

== Subject and design ==

The stamp depicts [[wikipedia:en:Anne, Princess Royal|Princess Anne]] and [[wikipedia:en:Mark Phillips|Captain Mark Phillips]].<ref name="SG2022-wedding" /> Their wedding took place at Westminster Abbey on 14 November 1973, the same date as the stamp issue.<ref name="Anne-wedding">{{Cite web
|title=Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II
|publisher=Westminster Abbey
|url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/princess-anne-daughter-of-elizabeth-ii
|access-date=3 October 2026
}}</ref>

According to the information card, the portraits are based on engagement photographs taken at Buckingham Palace on 30 May 1973. The portrait frames use a key-fret design associated with tenth-century Norse crosses, including the Olaf Liotulfson cross at Ballaugh. The interlaced ornaments beside the portraits draw on a late tenth-century crucifixion cross at Michael, Isle of Man.<ref name="wedding-card" />

== Production details ==

The catalogue credits the design to A. Larkins and identifies the printer as [[wikipedia:en:De La Rue|De La Rue]], using [[wikipedia:en:Lithography|lithography]]. It describes the stamp as multicoloured, with perforation 13½.<ref name="SG2022-wedding" />

The information card names A. S. Larkins as the engraver and Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd., Basingstoke, Hampshire, as the printer. It gives a stamp size of 52 × 36 mm, measured perforation to perforation, three colours and white paper. Gum is not specified. Its printing-process description is “Delacryl with one colour by the direct plate engraved process”.<ref name="wedding-card" />

The catalogue records sheets of 50 stamps. Plate numbers are 1A and 1B (each × 4). The imprint is in the right-hand corner of the bottom margin.<ref name="SG2022-wedding" />

== Sales and withdrawal ==

The catalogue records 400,813 sold for the 25p stamp. This is the stamp quantity shown in the details table, rather than a quantity of first day covers.<ref name="SG2022-wedding" />

The stamp was withdrawn from sale on 13 November 1974. The withdrawal date refers to the stamp, rather than the physical cover.<ref name="SG2022-wedding" />

== Stamps on this cover ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Image
! Identifier
! Face value
! Subject
! Format
! Other catalogues
! Notes
{{FDC stamp row
|image=IM-SG-41.jpg
|identifier=IM-SG-41
|face-value=25p
|subject=[[wikipedia:en:Anne, Princess Royal|Princess Anne]] and [[wikipedia:en:Mark Phillips|Captain Mark Phillips]]
|format=[[wikipedia:en:Postage stamp|Stamp]]
|other-catalogues=
|notes=Quantity sold: 400,813 stamps. Withdrawn from sale on 13 November 1974.<ref name="SG2022-wedding" />
}}
|}

== References ==

<references />