Isle of Man – Royal Wedding – 1973
| FDC image | 
|
|---|---|
| FDC reverse image | N/A |
| Country | Isle of Man |
| Country code | IM |
| Issue title | Royal Wedding |
| Date of issue | 14 November 1973 |
| Withdrawal or invalidation date | 13 November 1974 (SG 41 withdrawn from sale) |
| Quantity sold | 400,813 |
| Stamp type | Commemorative stamp |
| Stamp subtype | Wedding |
| Theme or subject | Royal wedding; Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips |
| Text credit | |
| Designer or artist | A. S. Larkins |
| Printer | Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd., Basingstoke, Hampshire |
| Printing process | Lithography (catalogue description) |
| Colours | Multicoloured; three colours |
| Paper and gum | White paper; gum not specified |
| Perforation | 13½ |
| Stamp dimensions | 52 × 36 mm, perforation to perforation |
| Issue format | Sheets of 50 stamps (catalogue description) |
| Number of stamps | 1 |
| Cover type | Official first day cover |
| Cover producer | Isle of Man Post Office Authority |
| Cover reference | |
| Limited edition | No |
| Edition limit | N/A |
| Copy number | N/A |
| Cachet or cover design | 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 |
|
| Signed | No |
| Signed by | N/A |
| Signature details | N/A |
| Information sheet included | Yes |
| Information materials | Single-sided information card |
| Information sheet title | Royal Wedding stamp issue information card |
| Information sheet image | 
|
| Information sheet reverse image | N/A |
| Information sheet notes | Describes the portrait sources, decorative motifs and technical details. The reverse is blank. |
| Certificate of authenticity included | No |
| Certificate of authenticity image | N/A |
| Certificate of authenticity reverse image | N/A |
| 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 wedding of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips. The stamp is catalogued as SG 41, and Stanley Gibbons lists a first day cover for the issue.[1]
Owned cover
The collection holds an addressed official first day cover produced by the Isle of Man Post Office Authority. Its cachet depicts the west front of 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.[2]
A single-sided information card accompanies the cover. Its reverse is blank.[3]
Subject and design
The stamp depicts Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips.[1] Their wedding took place at Westminster Abbey on 14 November 1973, the same date as the stamp issue.[4]
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.[3]
Production details
The catalogue credits the design to A. Larkins and identifies the printer as De La Rue, using lithography. It describes the stamp as multicoloured, with perforation 13½.[1]
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”.[3]
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.[1]
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.[1]
The stamp was withdrawn from sale on 13 November 1974. The withdrawal date refers to the stamp, rather than the physical cover.[1]
Stamps on this cover
| Image | Identifier | Face value | Subject | Format | Other catalogues | Notes
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
IM-SG-41 | 25p | Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips | Stamp | Quantity sold: 400,813 stamps. Withdrawn from sale on 13 November 1974.[1]
|
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Stanley Gibbons.Channel Islands and Isle of Man 2022 Edition Stamp Catalogue(31st combined edition).Stanley Gibbons.2022.Section: Isle of Man.p. 199.Catalogue system: Stanley Gibbons.Catalogue number(s): 41.ISBN: 978-1-911304-89-0.Place of publication: Ringwood.
- ↑ Royal Wedding official first day cover(First day cover).Isle of Man Post Office Authority.Owned specimen, illustrated at cover scan and postmark detail. The cover is addressed and its reverse is blank.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Royal Wedding stamp issue information card(Information card).Owned single-sided card, illustrated at information card scan. The card gives the stamp issue date as 14 November 1973; a separate publication date is not stated.
- ↑ “Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II”. Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 3 October 2026.