But his mother's cypher, designed a year after the 1951 Festival of Britain, had a clean, crisp modernity about it, something that spoke to the Jet Age. I was rather hoping for a cypher that nodded towards the 21st century - though nothing as crass or à la mode as CR7, the corporate monogram of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo with which CIIIR has been unfortunately compared.Ĭharles's choice is decidedly traditional, which shouldn't surprise us given his love of Georgian architecture. He chose his motif of a C hooked into an R from a range of ten, all designed and painted by Tim Noad a leading scrivener (calligraphy expert) at the College of Arms, the institution in charge of heraldry.
Postbox nerds are hoping the first Charles box will be unveiled before Christmas.Ĭhris Taft, head of collections at The Postal Museum in London, points out that the first Charles coins, as well as his royal cypher, have been revealed surprisingly quickly, so maybe Charles is a man in a hurry. It installs 'low hundreds' of new ones every year - either replacing damaged old boxes, or on new housing developments. The Royal Mail is not ready to reveal plans for the first Charles box, but has confirmed it will use up its remaining stock of uninstalled Elizabeth boxes first.
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The first of Elizabeth's reign was installed in Whitehall, in November 1952, a full nine months after her accession. We don't yet know where or when the first Charles box will appear. 'I don't want to sound in any way disrespectful, but this hasn't happened for 70 years, so there is a lot of excitement among many members.' 'We wear our anoraks with pride,' he laughs. Soon, we will start to spot the first new cyphers in 70 years - that of our new king: CIIIR, pictured Robert Cole is a leading light in the Letter Box Study Group, a group of 450 or so men (and it is mostly men) who are obsessed enough to study and survey all the boxes in the British Isles.
They are situated from the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides to Christchurch on the Dorset coast, which may make my challenge the work of a lifetime, not least because my wife increasingly rolls her eyes whenever I start to plot the next trip.Īlso, I fear - for the next year - I may become sidetracked by the thrill of Charles III's postboxes. I could not truthfully claim that hopping on a train in order to run three miles to a pillar box was a necessary journey. The Covid lockdowns of 2020 to 2021 rather put a dent in my progress. So far, I have made it to 26, many on the roads of 1930s suburban villas, the Metroland that John Betjeman adored. A task complicated by the fact the Royal Mail refuses to publish their location, worried thieves might steal them. I then vowed that I would attempt to run to every other Edward VIII letter box in Britain. I experienced the same thrill of discovery that, I imagine, Howard Carter felt on entering Tutankhamun's tomb. Until, one day, I spotted one, by sheer chance, on an early-morning run while staying with my sister-in-law in Stockport, Greater Manchester. I cannot remember where or when I discovered this fact, but like all good bits of trivia it lodged in my brain, undisturbed like a dusty piece of Lego under the sofa. There are 115,500 postboxes in the British Isles and you have probably noticed that on the front of nearly every single one is a royal cypher, the monogram of the king or queen, embossed in cast iron - a symbol that immediately dates the postbox and roots it to a particular reign. There just weren't that many coins, beer tankards or medals manufactured in his honour, given that he was on the throne for only 326 days in 1936 and never actually crowned before he abdicated.Ī mere 130 or so boxes with his distinctive William Morris-style EVIIIR cypher remain in existence, which means they represent 0.1 per cent - or one in a thousand - of all postboxes. As can George VI's heart-like monogram, and that of his wayward brother Edward VIII, whose pillar boxes are a rare find indeed, like all things associated with this King Emperor's reign. The interlocking curlicues of her son, Edward VII's cypher, and the solid, simple GR of her grandson George V can be spotted if you know where to look (for my sins, I do). Surprisingly, there are still boxes from Victoria's reign - ones with a spidery VR emblem.
Over two-thirds of postboxes carry the emblem of the late Queen - Elizabeth Regina or in cypher parlance: EIIR. They are Edward VIII postboxes, pictured, and very much the Himalayas of Britain's street furnitureīut for now, there are just six different possibilities.
But not just any old letter box, a very particular type that sets my pulse racing and lifts my spirits as only the highest mountain peaks can. I am obsessed with the postboxes of Britain.
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