Postboxes in Gibraltar, a Royal heritage

The postboxes in Gibraltar belong to the Royal Mail UK, the company that operates the postal service in the United Kingdom, and they bear the insignia of the king or queen who was on the throne at the time they were manufactured and installed. From now on, the new postboxes to be placed will correspond to King Charles III. The most common in Gibraltar are those from Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, owing to her long time as sovereign. Let’s take a look at the elements we should observe on these mail containers.

As can be seen in the photos, below the royal crown appears the inscription E II R (that is, Elizabeth II Regina). The royal title is always used in Latin (Rex or Regina) following the name and the ordinal number corresponding to each monarch. In Gibraltar we can find commemorative postboxes from other monarchs as well, such as that of Edward VIII, a unique and rare specimen because his reign was very brief, as we will now explain.

On January 20, 1936, Edward ascended to the throne as King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions Overseas and Emperor of India. From that date onward, any object or structure made throughout the empire under his royal name bore his insignia. Among these objects were the typical British red and black postboxes manufactured then with the monogram E VIII R, meaning Edward VIII Rex (i.e., King Edward VIII).

This king abdicated the throne in favor of his brother on December 11 of that same year, having reigned less than a year and never being officially crowned, which makes buildings or objects bearing his name rare. Therefore, this mailbox is rare not only in Gibraltar but in all British territories. You may already know that the reason for his abdication was his wish to marry Wallis Simpson, an American twice divorced, after which he became known as the Duke of Windsor.

The only Edward VIII postbox in Gibraltar is located in The Piazza, the well-known square in front of the Gibraltar City Hall, an original property and residence of the Larios family, who were present in the Rock, the Campo de Gibraltar, and Málaga. But that is another story…

Another example of a box present in Gibraltar would be that from the reign of King George VI of Great Britain. On this postbox the inscription reads G VI R below a royal crown, meaning George VI Rex, and translated into Spanish: King George VI. George VI reigned from 1936 to 1952.

The Royal Mail was founded in 1516 by King Henry VIII of England as the country’s General Post Office. It is one of the oldest postal and telegraph companies in the world. It is controlled by the British government through the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Royal Mail is present in all British territories, including overseas ones such as Gibraltar, where it operates through the Royal Gibraltar Post Office, part of the Gibraltar Government. It should be noted that this department received the distinction Royal from Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in April 2005 — the only overseas territory outside the United Kingdom to receive such a distinction.

Here are the postboxes of different British sovereigns that we have selected and photographed ourselves, a total of three among those present in Gibraltar, according to their chronological order:

1. E VIII R: King Edward VIII (January 1936–December 1936); after his abdication he became the Duke of Windsor.
2. G VI R: King George VI (December 1936–February 1952).
3. E II R: Queen Elizabeth II (February 1952–September 2022). She married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh. She was succeeded by her son, Charles III, on September 8, 2022. When the new commemorative postboxes for this king are installed, we will see his insignia under the royal crown as C III R (Charles III Rex). And British traditions — of which they are so attached — will continue.

There are also postboxes from sovereigns earlier than the ones mentioned — some from Queen Victoria, her son King Edward VII, and his successor King George V, etc., up to Elizabeth II — which can be found along Main Street and its surroundings. Gibraltar is an exceptional case within the British postal service for preserving postboxes from every monarch from Queen Victoria to Elizabeth II.

When you visit Gibraltar, observe the postboxes and see how many you can identify — there are more than 30 of them. Perhaps they have already installed a new mailbox for King Charles III, and you might spot it before I do.