BRITISH ROYAL WEDDINGS 1

On Monday, 10th February 1840 Queen Victoria rode in state to the Chapel Royal,St.Jame's Palace,for her wedding to her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg.Until that day,most Royal marriages were solemnized in the evening,and any kind of partipation on the part of loyal subjects was severely restricted.Queen Victoria,however set her own marriage service for one o' clock in the afternoon,and in spite of appalling weather Londoners thronged the town and crowded into St.James's Park to enjoy the event.

The twenty year old bridegroom was dressed in the scarlet and white uniform of a Field Marshal in the British Army,with his bridal favours at his shoulder.The bride's wedding gown was of rich white satin,trimmed with orange blossom and adorned with deep flounce of white Honiton lace.A coronet of orange blossom and diamonds secured a short lace veil.The young Queen was attended by twelve bridalmaids and given away by her uncle,the Duke of Sussex.

After the service,the wedding party adjourned to Buckingham Palace for a celebratory banquet,and later the bride and bridegroom left for a four day honeymoon at Windsor.

On 6th May 1840,shortly after the wedding of Queen Victoria,the world's first adhesive postage stamp-the famous Penny Black of Great Britain-became valid for postage.In 1837 Rowland Hill,campaigner for Postal Reform,proposed a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp,and covered at the back with a glutinous wash as a means of pre-paying postage.The profile head of Princess Victoria on Wyon's City of London Medal was chosen as the basic model for the portrait of The Queen which was used on all the postage stamps of her reign.

Princess Alexandra of Denmark,who was to marry The Prince of Wales(later King Edward vii) on 10th March 1863,arrived at Gravesend on the morning of 7th March.Queen Victoria had commanded a noiseless and dignified reception because of the mourning for Prince Albert,but the huge crowds of British people,wearing wedding favours andwavering Danish flags,were uncontrollable in their eagerness to greet her on her journey to Windsor.

The marriage took place in a private ceremony at St.George's Chapel,Windsor,but the pageantry of this wedding was none-the-less remarkable.The Prince wore his mantle of the Order of the Garter,with white ribands on each shoulder,over his uniform of General in the Army,and waited at the altar with his brother-in-law,the Crown Prince of Prussia,and his uncle,the Duke of Coburg.His bride arrived twenty minutes late with her father,Prince Christian.Her white satin dress was garlanded with orange blossom and myrtle,and the long silver train was carried by eight bridesmaids.

After the ceremony,a luncheon was held for the royal guests,and thenThe Prince and Princess set off for a week's honeymoon at Osborne,cheered on their way by Eton boys.

Alfred,Duke of Edinburgh,the second son of Queen Victoria,formed a stamp collection which he sold just before his death in 1900 to his brother The Prince of Wales.He in turn presented it to his younger son Prince George (later King George v ).The Princeof Wales became King Edward vii in 1901,on the death of Queen Victoria,and composite essay of design for the new stamps were made by superimposing a lithographed portrait of the King on the normal Victorian postage stamp.

Prince George,Duke of York and Princess Mary of Teck were married in the Chapel Royal,St.James Palace,on 6th July 1893.Prince George,future King George v and founder of the Royal House of Windsor,was the second son of the Prince and Princess of the Wales.Princess Mary popularly known as May was the daughter of Francis,Duke of Teck and Princess Mary of Cambridge.

The summer of 1893 was hot and sultry and elated crowds gathered beneath blue skies to witness the colourful pageantry.Queen Victoria,grand mother of the bridegroom,was first to arrive at the chapel,attended by the bride's mother and the Grand Duke of Hesse.The bridegroom wore the uniform of a Captain in the Navy and was accompanied by his father and his uncle,the Duke of Edinburgh.The bride's gown was of white satin brocade embroidered with silver roses,shamrocks and thistles.Five small attendants carried the full train and they were followed by five adult brides-maids.

Prince George chose York Cottage at Sandringham for honey-moon.The cottage was a wedding gift from The Prince of Wales,and the Duke and Duchess of York continued to live there for the first eight years of their married life.

The date of issue of the first King George V definitive stamps was advanced to be in time for the coronation. His reign saw the issue of the first British 'commemorative' stamps (British Empire Exhibition 1924) and the first British 'Royal commemorative' stamps (Silver Jubilee 1935). George V was a dedicated philatelist who, as a Prince, started what is now the Royal Philatelic Collection. He was President of the Royal Philatelic Society from 1896 until his accesssion in 1910