Wilding series

The Wildings were a series of definitive postage stamps featuring the Dorothy Wilding photographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that were in use between 1952 and 1971. The Wildings were the first and only British stamps to feature graphite lines on the back, and the first to feature phosphor bands on the face – both aids to automation. The stamps were also the first British pictorial high value stamps and the first to include regional emblems.

The stamps reproduced a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II taken during a photographic session on 26 February 1952 by Dorothy Wilding, who had been working at the Royal Court since 1937. Seventy five designs were considered to frame the portrait and five basic designs by Edmund Dulac, Enid Marx, Mary Adshead, Michael Farrar-Bell and George Knipe were selected. Four symbolic flowers of each country of the United Kingdom were also depicted, imitating one of the definitive stamp designs of King George VI's reign.

Dorothy Wilding's photograph depicts The Queen wearing the State Diadem made for George IV in the 1820s, which was designed to be worn outside a Cap of Maintenance. This diadem was also worn by Queen Victoria on stamps such as the Penny Black. The original photograph was re-touched to bring the diadem further forward on The Queen's head.

The replacement of the Wildings was initiated by stamp designers Michael Goaman and Faith Jacques. In a letter sent to the Post Office in April 1961, they expressed the difficulty of including the large Wilding portrait in their designs for commemorative stamps and the fact that the Queen was half turned to the viewer was also felt to be unsatisfactory. They proposed an image that would represent the monarchy more than the person of the queen. In 1963, comparing the Wilding portrait with Jacques' proposed design, the Stamp Advisory Committee acknowledged the need for a replacement, and in 1967 the stamps were replaced by the Machin head though the design continued to be used for regional issues until decimalisation in 1971.

...
Wikipedia