Christmas Queen Elizabeth II Holy Family 1st Class Stamps Final Issue 2022

These stamps are a lovely little slice of Royal Mail history. Fifty 1st class Christmas stamps first issued in 2022 that feature the Holy Family in Katie Ponders gorgeous Art Deco inspired style. These were part of the final Christmas issue to ever carry the silhouette of Queen Elizabeth the Second, making them quite special for philatelists and collectors alike.

Collectors will know that the Queen had a genuine love for stamps and upon her accession in 1952 became the patron of the Royal Philatelic Society London. So this final use of her profile, especially on a Christmas issue, feels like the closing of a long chapter in British postal history.

What makes this set a little more interesting is that they come inside an official Royal Mail employee Christmas card that carries a printed signature from the then CEO Simon Thompson. His time in charge drew criticism after MPs accused him of giving misleading evidence, especially over digital tracking of staff and concerns that parcels were prioritised over letters, breaching Royal Mail’s USO.

A wonderful item for collectors, postal history fans, or anyone who treasures a little piece of the story behind Christmas mail in the United Kingdom.