On 3 December 2012, St. James’s Palace announced that the Duchess was expecting the couple’s first child. At less than 12 weeks, the announcement was made earlier in the pregnancy than is traditional due to her admission to hospital with acute morning sickness.

The Duchess was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital, London, in the early stages of labour on the morning of 22 July 2013. It was announced that the Duchess had given birth to a boy at 16:24 BST (15:24 UTC) on 22 July, and that the baby weighed 8Кpounds 6Кounces (3.80Кkg). The Duke was by his wife’s side when she gave birth, and he is expected to take the full two weeks’ paternity leave from his job as an RAF search and rescue pilot, allowed by the Ministry of Defence. The birth took place in the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital – the same hospital in which Prince William and his brother, Prince Harry, were born to Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1982 and 1984, respectively. The Queen’s former gynaecologist, Marcus Setchell, delivered the baby assisted by Guy Thorpe-Beeston, Sunit Godambe and Physician to the Queen John Cunningham.

The customary formal bulletin announcing the royal birth was displayed on an easel outside Buckingham Palace, although in a break with tradition the news was first conveyed in a press release from Palace officials. Gun salutes signalled the birth in Bermuda, London, New Zealand, and Canada; the bells of Westminster Abbey and many other churches were rung; and iconic landmarks throughout the Commonwealth realms were illuminated in various colours, mostly blue to signify the birth of a boy.

In Gibraltar with the permission of the Royal Household, a Notice of Birth (the same one as is hanging outside Buckingham Palace) was attached to the front gate of The Convent (the official residence of the Governor of Gibraltar since 1728). With the Rock as the backdrop, members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment carried out a 21 gun salute to signal the birth.

The birth means that three generations of direct heirs to the throne are alive at the same time, a situation which last occurred between 1894 and 1901, in the last seven years of the reign of Queen Victoria.

On 24 July, the day after the Duke and Duchess appeared outside the hospital to allow the gathered press to see the baby; the Prince’s name was announced as George Alexander Louis.

Source: WOPA

published August 9th, 2013

This stamp issue features key events across the 20th century, which became headline news in Australian papers.

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published August 9th, 2013

Towering in the southwestern suburbs of Yingtan City, Jiangxi Province, Longhu (Dragon and Tiger) Mountain is reputed to be the “cradle of Taoism”.

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published August 6th, 2013

For the seventh year in a row, the Spanish Fashion series is paying homage to the great fashion designers that have brought the art of dressing to the top international runways. This year, Paco Rabanne takes the spotlight, with a block page of four stamps dedicated to the designer.

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published August 4th, 2013

Exactly 70 years ago, on 31 July in 1943 in the ZUPIC in PREKAJ, near heroic Drvar has been published the first issue of “Glas”.The first newspaper editorial today, seven decades later, the first, oldest and best-selling daily newspaper of the Republic of Srpska, made Skender Kulenovic Elijah Dosen, Djuro Pucar Stari Vranjesevic, Vilko Winterhalter, Osman Karabegovic and Bosko Siljegovic.

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published August 3rd, 2013

The Cultural Heritage Year as well as the tenth anniversary of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted by the UNESCO General Conference on 17 October 2003, which entered into force from June 2006, will be marked in Estonia by the issue of a thematic postage stamp.

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published July 31st, 2013

“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong”

The first definitive stamps of Queen Elizabeth II were placed on sale on 19th October 1953.

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published July 28th, 2013

The history of the port dates back to 1813, when the Cork Harbour Commissioners were established. They remained in existence until 1997, when responsibility transferred to the Port of Cork Company, a commercial semi state company.

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published July 26th, 2013

The “Four Arts of Chinese Scholars”, namely qin (the guqin, Chinese stringed instrument), qi (the strategy game of go), shu(Chinese calligraphy) and hua (Chinese painting), are deeply rooted in the Chinese civilization,

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published July 24th, 2013

Friar Radoslav Glavaš was born in Drinovci on November 28th, 1867. He was baptized by Friar Paško Buconjić on December 1st, 1867. His baptismal name is Andrija. His parents are Ante and Iva nee Nuić.

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published July 22nd, 2013

Isle of Man Post Office marks the 225th anniversary of The Times newspaper by commemorating some of the most significant events of recent history reported in this world famous publication.

The Times dates back to 1788 and has covered every news story in history. All the headlines reproduced in this unique new stamp issue, in association with The Times newspaper, capture the drama and immediacy of particular news events flashed across the world.

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published July 20th, 2013