Jersey’s link with the Crown

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33083, 25 November 1972, Page 11

Jersey’s link with the Crown

(By

KENNETH ANTHONY)

Numerous countries of the British Commonwealth are issuing commemorative stamps this year on the occasion of the Royal silver wedding anniversary. Among these, the example illustrated here is of unusual interest —not only because it is the first stamp to depict the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and their four children in an informal family group, but also because it emanates

from Jersey, an island linked to the Crown by more than 900 years of history. Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands, which claim to be the oldest members of the British Commonwealth. This is because they formed part of the Duchy of Normandy before William the Conqueror landed near Hastings in 1066 and seized the English throne. But when King John lost Normandy to the French in 1204, the islands remained

loyal to the English Crown. Even today Jersey owes its allegiance directly to the sovereign. The islanders are acknowledged as being citizens or the United Kingdom—yet they are not subject to the control of the Parliament at Westminster. Instead, they have their own elected parliament — known as the States of Jersey. The island contributes nothing to the British Exchequer and receives nothing in return—being entirely self-governing. But the presence of a LieutenantGovernor, who is the Queen’s personal representative, is a reminder of Jersey’s Curious constitutional position. Although Jersey is only 14 miles distant from France at the nearest point, the link with England has lasted through the centuries, and has survived two enemy occupations—by the French between 1461 and 1468, and by the Germans from 1940 to 1945. So the stamp has special significance in the historic association between Jersey and the Crown. The 20p value illustrated is one of a set of four. A smiling photograph of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh is shown on the 3p; the Prince of Wales is depicted on the 7jp stamp and Princess Anne on the 2}p.

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