EXHIBITIONS AND LOANS

The Royal Philatelic Collection is not on general public display, since much of the Collection is fragile. However, examples are occasionally on public display by kind permission of The Queen.

Each season, the opening display at the Royal Philatelic Society London (of which The Queen is Patron) consists of material from the Collection. This custom was started shortly after the First World War by George V, but the meeting is only open to Fellows and Members of the Society.

Selections from the Collection are also displayed at other exhibitions in the United Kingdom and at major international stamp shows.

Recent years have seen exhibitions in London, Newcastle, Glasgow and Chester. In 2002 a travelling exhibition went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Sandringham House and Hampton Court.

A major exhibition was mounted at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC in 2004 and another at Te Papa, in Wellington, New Zealand in 2005.

Further loans to exhibitions are scheduled in 2006 and later years. Notably, in 2006 material will be on show at short-term exhibitions in Torquay, Washington (USA), Calgary (Canada), Malaga (Spain), and Monaco.