The son of the famous Queen Victoria, Prince Alfred was the first British Royal to collect
stamps. The world’s first stamp, the penny black, dates back to 06 May 1840 and contains the portrait of the prince’s mother Queen Victoria.

Although Prince Alfred started off as a passionate collector, he later chose to sell his stamps to his older brother, Edward VII. Edward barely contributed to the collection. He was not planning to add new stamps. That honour was left to his son. George V, who later became the king of England.

King George V, he poured his heart and soul into his collection. His fascination with stamps was no secret. At his wedding, he received a stamp album with no less than 1,500 stamps. This album was added to his collection, George bought rare stamps left and right, and at one point even paid £1450 for a blue ‘Mauritius two pence’ stamp.

A member of the staff heard about this purchase, and he tried to impress the duke with a pointed remark he said “some damned fool has paid as much as £1400 for one stamp!” a dark cloud covered the face of the duke. “I was that damned fool,” George snapped.

~Evin Insitha.B.Amarakoon