The British government said Sunday it was closing a loophole that could see Queen Elizabeth II's head chopped off stamps if the Royal Mail national postal service is sold to a foreign firm. The monarch's head, facing left, has appeared on British adhesive postage stamps since their invention with the 1840 "Penny Black", featuring queen Victoria.
However legislation before parliament paving the way for Royal Mail to be privatised does not explicitly spell out that the queen's head should remain on the iconic stamps.
The bill gives Queen Elizabeth a veto over any use of her image but does not insist that, as per tradition, her head is shown.
Postal services minister Ed Davey said he was sure a solution would be found to close the loophole before the law is passed, and was "extremely confident" the queen's image would remain. "Any company would be absolutely stark staring mad to decide not to have the queen's head on its stamps," he said.
"Off with her head!" The Mail on Sunday newspaper said on its front page, warning about the loophole.
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