BRITISH PHILATELIC BULLETIN

The Court Post Office 1990-2004 Part 2: arrangements at other English residences by Glenn Morgan FRPSL VVINDSORCASTLE, WINDSOR, BERKSHIRE is an official residence of The Queen, and the largest occupied castle in the world, A Royal palace and fortress for over 900 years, the Castle remains a working palace to this day, Mail from this residence is franked with the blue-coloured first or second class meter franking marking and forwarded to Royal Mail's local Mail Office. As with the post, items intended for transmission to Britain and Commonwealth countries additionally bears a machine-applied Royal monogram certifying stamp.

SANDRINGHAM HOUSE, SANDRINGHAM, ORFOLK Built in 1870 by the Prince and Princess of Wales, later King Edward VII and Queen Alexan- dra, Sandringham was once described as 'The most comfortable house in England'. It has been passed down as a private home through four gener- ations of British monarchs and is now the country retreat of The Queen and The , Following the removal of counter services at Sandringham that had been provided when the Royal Family was in residence, Royal Household mail is now cancelled with one of two San- dringham House postage paid handstamps - either inland or overseas ver- sions, Mail from The Royal Studs and The Estate Office is cancelled with a Pitney Bowes commercial franking machine marking numbered PB712545 and PB307 139 respectively.

HIGHGROVE HOUSE, , GLOUCESTERSHIREThis house was built between 1796 and 1798 for a local landowner, and remodelled a century later. The bought Highgrove House on behalf of The in 1980. The house had been the home of Maurice Mac- millan, son of the former Prime Minister , for 14 years, When Prince Charles is in residence, mail is franked with a Highgrove House postage paid handstamp, introduced into service on II January 2002. There appears to be only an inland version of this hands tamp, unlike the other residences where an overseas version also exists. Prior to the in- troduction of this marking, there had been no means of truly identifying this mail, other than perhaps when the Prince of Wales's feathers design appeared on the rear of an envelope flap and bore a local postmark.

It is hoped that this survey will assist collectors to identify items that they may be unaware of, and therefore are probably missing from their collec- ;g tions. However, it must be stated that the Royal Mail and Royal House- ~ hold members employed at the Royal residences are extremely busy and ~ cannot, therefore, respond to specific requests for copies of any of the ~ In his next article, Mr Morgan postal cachets or markings recorded here, As a refusal to comply with your ~ looks at postal arrangements o at the Royal residences in request could offend, please approach one of the many dealers in British ~ Scotland. postal history or ephemera if you wish to own this type of material • ~

276 VOLUME 41 MAY 2004

Royal Mail Postage Paid Great Britain

-8 NOV1993 26 MAY 1998 ~ Windsor Castle PP! W 7047

Royal Mail ~ Postage Paid W.. JiOYAl. MAIL r P.OYAL~MPJ.L···~ POSfAGE PAID I PAle 2 MAY 19~3 1'''''f.O' 1 26 . . GREAT BRIJAIN . GREATBRITAIN! Windsor Castle W7047 W7047 I PPI W 7047 0,0"'£ _____ '.~

Royal Mail Royal Mail Royal Mail . : . ; ~ ~ .. Postage Paid m Postage Paid Great Britain W Postage Paid ~ - - OEe 1998 2 1 OEe 1998 {li1i~ 2 1 DEe 1998 1 ~ 1 Sandringham House Norfolk PIl35 6EP Sandringham House London PPI W 7047 London PP! W 7047 AIC Loadon PPI W 7047

Royal Mail Postage Paid Great Ilritain ~flfil - - OEe 1998 .1ie SandrinChom House Norfolk PE3S 6CP Ne London PPI w 70.7

'-'-;;-, .,,",,,<, ,'<"< "'""" -c.. -~ THE ESTATE OFFICE, SANDR.INGHAM, LNOR---~F.OLK PE35 _6EN

Royal Mail Postage Paid ., Above: a selection of postmarks used at Ihe Royal residences •• of Windsor Castle, Sandringham House and Highgrove House. 11 JAN 2002 1 Opposite: postmarks used at Windsor Castle. Highgrove House 'hlbwy GL8 8TN 277