ROYAL BRITAIN
Royal Mail Commemorates Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling, literary personification of the days of Queen Victoria's Empire, is commemorated with the issue of 10 stamps on 15 January. The new issue of one denomination self-adhesive stamps celebrate the centenary of the publication of Kipling's Just So stories, originally created in the 1890s by the author as bedtime stories for his three children Josephine, Elsie and John.
Kipling's original drawings for the stories, which are based on ancient ethnic myths with titles like How the Leopard got his Spots and How the Camel got his Hump, were rejected as unsuitable for the stamp designs because they were in black and white. Israeli artist Izhar Cohen was commissioned for the watercolour designs which feature the Queen's head in silhouette in the top left hand corner. Michael Smith, Secretary of the Kipling Society, was delighted with the stamps, which he described as "absolutely gorgeous, quite magnificent". He continued: They capture the spirit of the magic of the stories so well". Source: Daily Telegraph. Related suite101.com site: Stamp Collecting
Rudyard Kipling, who is best known as the creator of Mowgli and Jungle Book stories, is featured in my England's Literary Heritage compilation.
The Royal Month
The Queen and Her Consort are resident
at Sandringham House, together with Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. The Royal Diary is empty of formal engagements until the end of the month. On Sundays The Queen and perhaps The Queen Mother, if she is strong enough to be out in the cold Norfolk winds, may be seen attending morning service at St Mary Margaret's Church. With intrusive paparazzi hiding in the Sandringham estate rhododendrons in the hope of capturing "informal" pictures of HM out on a pheasant shoot, driving the estate car, exercising her horse, scratching her nose, or something similarly 'newsworthy' to delight the jaundiced eyes of the tabloid picture editors, the Queen's annual January relaxation at Sandringham House is not as secluded as it should be.
The Princess Royal is scheduled to attend a number of events during the month as Patron or President of hospitals, health and child care charities, or rural and manufacturing associations. On 9 January, as President of the Royal Yachting Association, she attends the 48th annual London Boat Show, (featured below), at Earls Court.
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