King Charles caught in North Korea’s money making ploy

King Charles has found himself linked to an unexpected royal oddity, he once appeared on a set of commemorative stamps issued not by Britain, but by North Korea.

The unlikely honour came in 1981, when the totalitarian regime marked his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer with a completely unauthorised tribute. 

Two months after the July ceremony, Pyongyang released a collection of stamps aimed squarely at the lucrative international collectors’ market.

Freshly unearthed Foreign Office records, revealed by NK News, show the scheme was part of a money making drive by Kim Il-sung’s government, which hoped the royal memorabilia would bring in much-needed revenue.

North Korea’s knack for unusual money making schemes has taken some curious turns over the years from weapons trafficking to counterfeit currency but few could have imagined bootleg royal memorabilia would make the list.

Newly uncovered records show that in 1981, Pyongyang released a set of commemorative stamps celebrating the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. 

The bizarre tribute, aimed squarely at the lucrative collectors’ market, was first flagged by a British diplomat in Beijing, who wryly remarked the stamps were “pretty excessive even for them,” The Times reports.

With tongue firmly in cheek, the official suggested Britain’s own General Post Office should “retaliate” by issuing a “geriatric dictators of the world” collection featuring North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung.

British officials did attempt to acquire the stamps for the Royal Philatelic Collection, but dealer Stanley Gibbons was only selling them as part of a full £600 royal wedding set.

The four stamps featured scenes from St Paul’s Cathedral, inside Buckingham Palace, and the newlyweds’ wave from the palace balcony. 

While the Palace wasn’t exactly clamouring for souvenirs from Pyongyang, officials admitted it would have been “rather nice” to add them to the royal archive.