Regular Meetings at 15 Abchurch Lane
Meetings are held at our London premises usually twice per month from September to June.
The Meeting Programme for the 2024-2025 Session
The full meeting programme for the 2024-2025 session, including a programme of online presentations, can be found here.
The King William Street Pedestrian Priority Project
Impact on Access to Abchurch Lane
A major project will be undertaken during the summer and autumn of 2024 and the first quarter and second half of 2025 covering King William Street, Lombard Street, Cannon Street and many of the lanes that connect them including Abchurch Lane.
This will mean that there will be road closures due to roadworks. Access during these times will be for pedestrians only, with very limited access to vehicles. Click here for details.
President's Newsletter
Europhilex 2025
The exhibition may be over, but the great memories linger on. Most people I spoke to were very positive about the show and particular praise was given for the excellent layout, which seemed to work well for the dealers present, but also for exhibitors. The Society Day, and the RPSL regional meeting in particular, was very well attended. From the Royal’s perspective it was great to be able to welcome so many members from around the world. The Four Societies Dinner that evening was a notable success, a great innovation, and good to see some of our younger members at that dinner too. The Palmares event was a memorable one in a location steeped in philatelic history, and from a personal perspective it was a great honour and privilege to have my wife and younger children present at the RDP ceremony.
President’s Display
– a celebration of Mike Roberts, philatelist
On Thursday 22 May I am delighted that we will be able to put on the President’s Display that Mike intended to give us. Gwynne Harries has worked extremely hard to pull together the four exhibits – the PSNC, Scottish Islands, Castles and Sea Horses, and even produce a handout. My thanks too, to Mike’s widow, Alison for allowing the display to go ahead, and we look forward to welcoming her, and the rest of Mike’s family, to Abchurch Lane this week. If you are attending, please take note that engineering works in Abchurch Lane mean pedestrian access to the Royal is only from King William Street.
RPSL Programme
After Mike’s Presidential Display, the final physical meeting of the season will be on
5 June 2025: 5pm Presentation by Hugh Osborne
The Postal History of South Georgia.
The final Zoom meeting of the 2024/225 season will be on
3 June 2025: 3pm Zoom Presentation by Adrian Pearson
The Crimean War (part II)
AGM and Crawford Festival
The final week of June sees the Annual General Meeting on 26 June preceded by the 4th Crawford Festival of Philatelic Literature. You should have received the Annual Report with Notice of Meeting together with the Crawford booklet with the May London Philatelist. An excellent programme on philatelic archives has been put together and the event will culminate in the awarding of the Society’s Crawford Medal.
Devonshire Bowl
The last event of the season is the Annual One-frame Competition to win the Society’s Devonshire Bowl; this is awarded on the basis of a popular vote of those attending. It has nothing to do with the normal competitive exhibiting rules. So, for those of you who find the international rules too constraining, a chance to ‘do it your way’. Here is the link to the entry form.
President’s Dinner
After the Crawford Festival, another great philatelic week will take place in October when I am delighted to announce that the President’s Dinner will take place on Wednesday 22 October 2025 at Stationers' Hall by St Paul’s. This is the opening day of Stampex, which will take place at the Business Design Centre, and the day before a 1:00pm display by Ian Greig who has kindly agreed to step in following the US Classics Society’s withdrawal due to ongoing customs uncertainties. Tickets are available here on the website and from the administration office, priced at £160 each.
Regional Meetings
Full details of these regional meetings can be found here on the website and in The London Philatelist. I very much enjoyed the meetings of the Wessex region in Salisbury on 25 March and the South West region in Tiverton on 6 April. Next weekend I will be in the West Midlands for their regional meeting. Please do support these meetings and you are most welcome to attend ones outside your own region, just contact the organiser. You also very welcome to bring along a prospective member.
My wife and I will be at the French National in Colmar in early June and would be pleased to meet any members present. I plan to visit the Nordia exhibition in September and the Royal will also have a presence in Liberec next month.
With best wishes,
Simon.
Simon Richards FRPSL
President
The Royal Philatelic Society London
20 May 2025
Collections Events
From time to time informal talks and seminars take place, showing the diversity of philately and how it can provide unexpected insights into social, cultural and local history. Click here for information about these events.
Meeting Videos
5pm meetings that have been videoed may be viewed on YouTube, accessible through links on the All Meetings with Documents page.
The full list of meetings can be viewed here.
Meeting Handouts
Our archives hold over 700 handouts provided by displayers at meetings since 1918. These range from single sheets of paper listing the items on display to extensive publications including complex images that can be regarded as significant contributions to the literature. Explanatory notes were at first provided only occasionally but have become normal practice since the 1980s. Many contain material of value to researchers and their production quality has steadily improved. These have been scanned and converted to searchable PDF documents. Click here for a list of the handouts available to view online.
Standing Displays and Regional Meetings
Information about the standing displays and regional meetings, in the United Kingdom and around the world, can be viewed by clicking the menu to the left.