What is it with Prince George and the knee socks?
The much-derided, faux-Victorian legwear items, which George seems to be obliged to wear on every formal occasion, have made another appearance today, as he ticks off a very royal first–one’s first stamp.
George makes his appearance to celebrate his grandmother’s 90th birthday (her real one) which is tomorrow, Thursday.
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The stamp of Prince George is being sold as part of a special presentation pack.
A group photograph was taken featuring the line of succession; the queen, the heir to the throne (Charles), the heir to the heir of the throne (William), and George, socks and all, the heir to the heir of the heir to the throne. You peel out the heads of the various royals from the picture and stick them on your envelope to post it.
The 2-year-old future king had to stand on blocks to make him the right height for the picture, and in fact his signature socks have been cropped from the final stamp presentation pack.
Sock fanatics will be interested to know that Prince George’s knee socks are from Amaia Kids, a boutique in Chelsea Green. He is also, my sources tell me, wearing the brand’s Griotte Bloomer in navy corduroy.
The bloomers are usually available in a variety of colors, including royal blue, yellow, and beige, but will all be sold out in a few hours time, no doubt.
But we reckon you should still be able to get your hands on the socks, as they are presumably not huge global sellers.
Photographer Ranald Mackechnie, who, according to the Daily Telegraph, was sworn to such secrecy that he did not even tell his wife he took the picture (hmmm), said: “George was absolutely charming, as you can see from the picture. You only have a short window of opportunity with small children, but Prince George was on good form and everyone seemed to enjoy seeing him enjoy the day.
“He was fascinated by my lights and all the kit, and he was quite happy standing on the blocks. I took maybe 80 or 100 shots, but when I saw this one I knew straight away that was it.”
The shoot was not without hitches.
“When the royal family came into the room and sat down, my computer system crashed,” he said. “Prince Charles was very sympathetic, and saved my blushes, and fortunately I had backup so we were back up and running in about a minute.”
Royal Mail is also issuing a set of six commemorative stamps showing the queen in her public and private roles over the past 90 years. All of the stamps will be available from post offices from Thursday.
Mackechnie was chosen due to “his excellent use of light in his work and specialist portrait skills,” the Royal Mail said. He’d worked with the Royal Mail design team many times; however, this was the first time his work would feature on a stamp.
The photographic team looked at a range of rooms within the Palace and originally selected the Yellow Drawing Room as it was the preferred choice of the photographer. However, after reviewing the initial test shots, the team felt that the White Drawing Room would best capture the sense of this special portrait, without overpowering the actual photograph.
