On Tuesday November 26, Her Majesty the Queen visited 15 Abchurch Lane, London EC4N 7BW, to open officially the new headquarters of The Royal Philatelic Society London. Her Majesty was greeted by The Lord Mayor, Alderman William Russell as Lord Lieutenant, who presented Richard Stock FRPSL, President of the Society, to Her Majesty together with Peter Cockburn FRPSL and Mike Roberts FRPSL, Vice-Presidents, and Patrick Maselis RDP FRPSL, the immediate Past President.
The Queen then met those closely involved with refurbishing the new premises and organising the move that took place during the summer, notably Christopher King RDP FRPSL and Brian Trotter RDP FRPSL.
It was fitting that The Queen’s visit took place during the Society’s 150th anniversary as Her Majesty had previously visited the Society in April 1969 to mark its centenary.
During the Queen’s tour of the new premises Nicola Davies, the Head of Collections, showed Her Majesty some of the important artefacts held by the Society, including the letter from the future King George V to Lord Crawford regarding the use of the Royal prefix in the Society’s name.
In the Meeting Room on the first floor The Queen viewed a special display of material from the Society’s philatelic collections, and a selection of the Society’s extensive publications. Representatives from some of the 80 countries where members reside were presented to Her Majesty and she showed great interest in the work undertaken by the Expert Committee. Her Majesty heard how the Society is encouraging collecting among young people.
The Queen also visited the Society’s Philatelic Library, amongst the finest in the world, where she was presented with a copy of the recent publication A History of the Royal Philatelic Society London 1869-2019.
