Artist creates stamp portraits of William and Harry - but doesn't know what to do with them
Former teacher and pop art man Pete Mason has completed a trilogy of portraits, paying homage to the late Princess of Wales and her two sons, made out of postage stamps.
Pete, aged 77, from Hednesford, Cannock, is known for his huge master-pieces and had hoped to pay his own personal tribute to what would have been the Princess' 60th birthday when her two sons unveiled a statue at Kensington Palace earlier this year.
He created a three foot square likeness of the Princess and of the Duke of Sussex and has now finally completed a similar sized master-piece of Prince William using 2,800 stamps.
During his work on all three portraits he used a total of 8,000 postage stamps.
The former art teacher at Manor Farm Community School at Walsall said: "I had hoped to have these completed to coincide with the unveiling of the statue of the Princess of Wales at Kensington Palace by her sons to commemorate what would have been her 60th birthday.
"The one of Prince Harry is made up of £2, £3 and £5 commemorative stamps of the Princess that were issued in the 1960s on one side of his portrait and the other side is made up of stamps bearing the Queen's head.
"Prince William's portrait uses stamps issued featuring the Princess of Wales and the Queen.
"I have featured five pictures in a row of the Princess which were issued as a set of five 26 pence stamps and placed them in two columns, ranging from dark to light.
"I deliberately set the Prince facing the future as he is going to be our future King but, having missed the occasion of the statue being unveiled, I am at a bit of a loss about what to do with the trilogy now that it is completed.
"However, I do hope to eventually stage an exhibition of my work at the Museum of Cannock Chase but because of the pandemic this may not happen until next year.
"Meanwhile, I plan to sort through and repair a nine foot square picture of the Princess of Wales which I made some time ago out of 18,000 stamps."
Pete has previously completed large master-pieces made out of stamps and replicated the famous Lord Kitchener "We Need You" recruitment poster to boost the take-up of vaccinations against the Covid-19 virus.
His largest work was completed to mark the Queen's Jubilee and consisted of a staggering 30,000 stamps and at three storeys high was exhibited at Whiteley's shopping centre in London.
