MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Special stamps will celebrate Queen Mother's life

The life of the Queen Mother will be celebrated with a set of commemorative stamps, Royal Mail has announced.

The four stamps will feature portraits from different eras of the Queen Mother's life and go on sale later this month.

Originally issued to mark her 90th birthday in 1990, the stamps have been framed in black as a mark of respect.

They will carry the inscription "HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother 1900 - 2002." The Queen's head will also be in black.

The stamps chart the phases of the Queen Mother's 101 years of life.

They show her as Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1907, as the Duchess of York in 1930, as Queen Consort to her husband King George VI in 1948 and finally as the Queen Mother in 1980.

Gavin Macrae, managing director of Royal Mail stamps and collectibles, said: "The Queen Mother inspired the deepest affection in millions of people in Britain and around the world and will be greatly missed.

"We believe these classic portraits of the Queen Mother's life form a fitting tribute and one that people can keep or give to friends or relations."

The commemorative stamps will be available from April 25 from all UK Post Office branches and by mail order. Presentation packs containing the stamps together with photographs and information about the Queen Mother will also be available.

A commemorative first day cover, containing a set of stamps postmarked "St James's Palace, April 25" will be available for an extended period until May 23. Royal Mail estimates that there have been over 700 million stamps featuring the Queen Mother's image in the UK