PADDINGTON STAMPS RELEASED BY ROYAL MAIL
To celebrate its 65th anniversary, the Royal Mail has released 10 special stamps dedicated to Paddington Bear.
Four of the stamps feature moments from the TV series designed and directed by animator Ivor Wood. The other six features images from his comic strip cartoons.
Paddington Bear the cartoon was first published in the London Evening News in the 1970s after the bear appeared in Michael Bond’s book A Bear Called Paddington. The book was published in 1958 and tells the story of a bear being sent to London from Peru by his Aunt Lucy. He then gets adopted by the Brown family after they name him after the train station where he arrived in London.
The marmalade loving bear will feature alongside King Charles III on the new stamps. This is the first time that Paddington gets his own set of stamps, but not the first time that he appears on them.
He was included in a set released by the Royal Mail back in 1994. The set featured other cartoon characters including Shaun the Sheep, Bob the Builder and Peppa Pig.
Paddington Bear has starred in two of his own movies and also in the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee feature in 2022.
The stamps will be available on sale from 5 September.
Image credit: American Philatelic Society