--- description: King Charles broke from royal tradition to create the first stamp featuring a monarch's image that does not include a crown. title: Why There's No Crown on the New King Charles Stamps image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf27b4281f7b5c92a/698a3ba316d88453f4c3bb37/king-charles-stamp.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [royals](/tag/royals/) ## royals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why There's No Crown on King Charles III's New Stamps  by [Armani Syed](/author/armani-syed/)  ## Armani Syed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Apr 4, 2023 4:11 PM CUT  A sheet of the new first class stamps featuring a likeness of King Charles III is seen in a display case at the Royal Mail Museum on Feb. 08, 2023 in London. A sheet of the new first class stamps featuring a likeness of King Charles III is seen in a display case at the Royal Mail Museum on Feb. 08, 2023 in London.Leon Neal—Getty Images  by [Armani Syed](/author/armani-syed/)  ## Armani Syed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Apr 4, 2023 4:11 PM CUT Stamps featuring King Charles III’s face are now [officially on sale](https://shop.royalmail.com/special-stamp-issues/definitives-his-majesty-king-charles "undefined") to the British public. But while the introduction of new stamps to mark a new monarch is a nearly two-century-old tradition, the latest are a significant break from the past. That’s at least in one key respect: none of the stamps include a crown. “His preference for a simple image is more contemporary,” royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams tells TIME. “The Queen wore a diadem and the image of her was internationally recognized. In a different age, the King has wisely chosen a more human image.” The first and second class definitive stamps, produced by Britain’s Royal Mail in a range of colors, depict the soon-to-be-coronated King from his left-side profile. This visual tradition dates back to the [world’s first adhesive postage stamp](https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-worlds-first-postage-stamp "undefined") featuring Queen Victoria, known as the Penny Black stamp, which went on sale in 1840\. Last month, the Guardian[ reported](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/08/royal-mail-reveals-image-of-king-charles-to-be-used-on-stamps "undefined") that David Gold, Royal Mail’s director of external affairs and policy, said the desire for simplicity in the new stamps was a measured choice by Charles. “There is no embellishment at all, no crown, just simply the face of the human being, on the plain background, almost saying: ‘This is me and I’m at your service,’ which I think in this modern age is actually rather humbling.” **Read More:** [_Breaking Down the New Royal Family Line of Succession_](https://time.com/6265015/royal-family-tree-succession-king-charles-iii/ "undefined") There is precedent for male monarchs shying away from the crown. Male sovereigns, for example, do not typically wear royal regalia [on coins](https://www.royalmint.com/shop/monarch/?utm%5Fterm=charles%20coin&utm%5Fcampaign=COM+-+Royalty&utm%5Fsource=adwords&utm%5Fmedium=ppc&hsa%5Facc=9288023692&hsa%5Fcam=13353407889&hsa%5Fgrp=141917372837&hsa%5Fad=652942812841&hsa%5Fsrc=g&hsa%5Ftgt=kwd-637922173&hsa%5Fkw=charles%20coin&hsa%5Fmt=p&hsa%5Fnet=adwords&hsa%5Fver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQjwla-hBhD7ARIsAM9tQKu-qZetGglfP3-A1EYmgAebR8CzmVVYOIfTtPvm4vd%5FgE5fRLBwSsgaArgEEALw%5FwcB "undefined"). Yet the decision to exclude a crown in all depictions of his likeness is unusual—the last male monarch, King George VI, [featured a crown](https://www.postalmuseum.org/collections/highlights/philatelic-collection/british-stamps/george-vi-stamps/ "undefined") in the frame. So far, Charles has shown himself to be aware of the monarchy’s [changing role](https://time.com/6246195/prince-harry-spare-british-monarchy-size/ "undefined") in Britain and the [Commonwealth](https://time.com/6212004/queen-elizabeth-republicanism-anti-monarchy/ "undefined"). In a [statement](https://www.royal.uk/coronation-weekend-plans-announced "undefined") announcing the details of Charles’ May 6 coronation, Buckingham Palace said this historic event “will reflect the monarch’s role today.” As such, the celebrations will be more modest than that of his mother. His scaled down guest list is limited to 2,000 dignitaries, almost a quarter of the number of guests who attended the [1953 coronation](https://www.royal.uk/50-facts-about-queens-coronation-0 "undefined") of Queen Elizabeth. The service is also expected to last for just over an hour, as opposed to the surplus of [three hours](https://time.com/6211771/when-did-queen-elizabeth-ii-become-queen/ "undefined") that the Queen’s took place over. Charles’ first official portrait as monarch, painted by artist Alastair Barford, is similarly pared back. The portrait shows Charles in a navy pinstripe suit, pink tie, and pink handkerchief, wearing a bracelet gifted by Amazon Indigenous leader Domingo Peas.  The first portrait of King Charles III painted by an artist Alastair Barford is unveiled in London, United Kingdom on April 4, 2023. Rasid Necati Aslim—Anadolu Agency via Getty Images “An image helps to define a ruler and we see this as one of the roles of royal portraiture down the centuries,” Fitzwilliams says. Official portraits of past kings and queens have instead offered a snapshot of regal glamor; the Queen was often painted wearing crown jewels, while her father, King George, was mostly depicted wearing a ceremonial uniform and royal regalia. In the interest of minimizing “the [environmental](https://time.com/6212796/king-charles-iii-climate-change-liz-truss/ "undefined") and financial impact” of the new stamps, Royal Mail [announced](https://www.royalmail.com/hmkingcharlesregister "undefined") that it was the King’s instruction for retailers to use up any stamps featuring the late Queen Elizabeth’s image before the new ones were allowed to be sold. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6268385/king-charles-iii-stamps-no-crown/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6268385/king-charles-iii-stamps-no-crown/"},"headline":"Why There's No Crown on King Charles III's New Stamps","datePublished":"2023-04-04T16:11:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:53:21.818Z","description":"Britain's new monarch broke with tradition for a more contemporary image.","url":"https://time.com/6268385/king-charles-iii-stamps-no-crown/","keywords":["royals","United Kingdom","News Team"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf27b4281f7b5c92a/698a3ba316d88453f4c3bb37/king-charles-stamp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Armani Syed","jobTitle":"Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/armani-syed/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf27b4281f7b5c92a/698a3ba316d88453f4c3bb37/king-charles-stamp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Royal Mail Release Definitive King Charles III Stamps","caption":"A sheet of the new first class stamps featuring a likeness of King Charles III is seen in a display case at the Royal Mail Museum on Feb. 08, 2023 in London.","creditText":"Leon Neal—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/royals/","name":"royals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6268385/king-charles-iii-stamps-no-crown/","name":"Why There's No Crown on King Charles III's New Stamps"}}]}] ```