When the 81-year-old Queen Victoria died, on January 22, 1901, the Post Office was still issuing stamps designed more than 60 years previously, showing her as a 15-year-old princess in a tiara.

The Postmaster General immediately discussed the question of changing the stamps with the new monarch, Edward VII, and the printers De La Rue. Edward posed for a portrait by the Austrian sculptor and court painter, Emil Fuchs, who drew the King in profile, facing left, and flattered him by not showing his double chin.

De La Rue's designers made an engraving from the portrait, which they placed in a decorative border modelled on the late Queen's stamps, with the addition of a crown above the King's head. Edward's new stamps were first issued in January 1902, several months before his coronation.

See Edward VII's stamps here

The Downey head

Edward VII died on May 6, 1910, yet his stamps continued to be issued until 1913. Meanwhile, the Postmaster General, Herbert Samuel, made plans for the new stamp issues with George V.

The new King had collected stamps since boyhood and took a keen interest in their design. They chose to break with tradition by using a portrait of the King facing three-quarters to the left, rather than in full profile.

The stamp was designed by two artists, GW Eve and Bertram MacKennel, who made an engraving based on a photograph of the King by W and D Downey. The first values were issued on June 22, 1911, the day of George's coronation. Unfortunately, many people felt that the stamps lacked the regal dignity of a profile.

The "Downey Head", as it was called, drew so many complaints that it was withdrawn after just 18 months, and replaced with a profile engraving by Bertram MacKennal.

See the Downey head and its replacement here

Edward VIII

George died on January 20, 1936, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward VIII. The Post Office now had a new reproduction technique, photogravure, which allowed stamps to be printed from photographs rather than engravings.

Edward posed for a photograph by Hugh Cecil, which was used as a model for both his coins and stamps. The design chosen was one submitted to the Post Office by Hubert Brown, a teenage schoolboy stamp collector from Devon. Brown's design was startlingly modern, with no decoration around the portrait, plain lettering, and the crown placed in the corner rather than above the King's head. See Brown's pencil sketch here

Edward's stamps were issued on September 1, 1937. Once again, there was controversy, as the design was attacked and defended by leading artists in letters to the press.

See Edward VIII's stamp here

Abdication crisis

Edward's plan to marry Mrs Simpson, a twice divorced American, led to his shocking abdication on 10 December 1936. This was a major crisis for the British monarchy. The government issued orders to destroy all images of the King under production. Now there was an urgent need to produce a stamp for the new monarch, Edward's brother, George VI, in time for his coronation on May 12, 1937 - the date originally chosen for Edward's coronation.

On January 1, 1937, the Postmaster General invited four artists to submit designs. A panel of experts selected a drawing by the French artist, Edmund Dulac, from a photograph of the King by Bertram Park. George, who wanted to restore public faith in the monarchy, asked for a more traditional design than his brother's, returning to the ornamental frame and the crown above the head. His first stamps were issued on May 10, 1937, just two days before he was crowned.

See George V's stamp here

Elizabeth's first stamps

Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne on February 6, 1952, on the death of her father, George. The new Queen posed for the court photographer, Dorothy Wilding, who took many pictures of her, to be used for stamps, coins and banknotes.

For the stamps, an image was chosen showing Elizabeth facing three-quarters to the left, wearing her crown. The portrait was enclosed in an oval and surrounded by five different ornamental designs, each used for several values.

Times had changed since the Downey Head controversy, and the new stamps, first issued on December 5, 1952, proved popular. They continued to be used until 1967, when the new Machin design was introduced.

See the Wilding issues here