The Queen turns 90 tomorrow and what will we be doing to celebrate? Writing loads of letters probably. Because we simply HAVE to have an excuse to use the four commemorative stamps released today, one of which displays the smiley face of Prince George!
The Royal Mail's new stamp sheet includes four generations of monarchs, present and future – The Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and little Prince George – created to celebrate The Queen's historic birthday.
Snapped by photographer Mackechnie, the shoot took two half days to set up, the main problem being... George's height! It was imperative that George could stand in-line with his father, grandfather and great-grandmother at roughly the same level and also, that each person was equally spaced apart, so they could easily fit the stamp sheet. This meant, George sitting on his father's lap was not an option.
So what was Mackechnie's solution? Foam blocks! Having been given the little prince's approximate height measurements ahead of time, the photographer crafted a box of foam blocks for George to stand on.
And voila...
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mackechnie recalls, 'It was an amazingly relaxing and light-hearted sitting. They were comfortable with one another and behaved like any family with their conversation and jokes. It was much more relaxed than when I've tried to take pictures with my family.
'The joy and energy coming out of George was fantastic. It lifted the whole shot and lifted the afternoon. He was on top form. He was quite fascinated by the lights. He took it all in his stride.'
He also said: 'It's great just to be asked to photograph a stamp, never mind four generations of the royal family. When I was asked about [it] I was ecstatic but I had to keep schtum for 18 months...'
Well, it was clearly worth the wait. And with that in mind, we're off to buy Her Majesty a birthday card. But to make sure it gets there on time tomorrow too, we're clearly gonna have to purchase some extremely special First Class stamps too.
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