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 2025-2026 Session
The full meeting programme for the 2025-2026 session can be found here.
Our monthly programme of online presentations for the 2025-2026 session can be found here.
Nominations for Officers and Council 2026-2027
NOMINATIONS ARE INVITED for the Officer posts and places on the Council of the Royal Philatelic Society London. Nomination forms can be obtained here:
Completed forms must be returned to the Honorary Secretary by 31st March 2026. Positions will be confirmed, by a vote, if necessary, at the Annual General Meeting on Thursday 18th June 2026.
Steven Harrison FRPSL
Honorary Secretary
Membership Subscription Rates for 2026
Some good news! For U.K Town and Country Members, subscriptions will be held at the same rates in 2026 as those in 2025 if you sign up to a Direct Debit facility for payment!
We do encourage all Town and Country Members to sign up to the Direct Debit facility as soon as possible. You can use this link to set up a Direct Debit.
Subscriptions are payable on 1 January each year. The subscription rates for 2026 are:
U.K. Town members, living within a 40-mile radius of Charing Cross: £300 (if paid before 31 March 2026); £320 (if paid after 31 March 2026). If, when paying before 31 March 2026, U.K. Town Members elect to pay by Direct Debit, they will receive a discount of £25 (for this year only), so paying the same subscription as in 2025.
U.K. Country members, living outside the 40-mile radius of Charing Cross: £195 (if paid before 31 March 2026); £215 (if paid after 31 March 2026). If, when paying before 31 March 2026, U.K. Country Members elect to pay by Direct Debit, they will receive a discount of £5 (for this year only) so paying the same subscription as in 2025.
Any U.K. Town members or U.K. Country members who already have a Direct Debit arrangement in place will also receive the discounts for the 2026 subscription.
Overseas members, £185 (if paid before 31 March 2026); £205 (if paid after 31 March 2026). We encourage members in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand to sign up to the Direct Debit facility as soon as possible. You can use this link to set up a Direct Debit.
Any members who pay after 31 March 2026 will be able to request copies of The London Philatelist that they may have missed, from the Administration Office upon payment of the appropriate postage.
Any member whose subscription remains unpaid after 30 June 2026 will be deemed to have left the Society.
Steven Harrison FRPSL
Honorary Secretary
The King William Street Pedestrian Priority Project and New Building Construction
Impact on Access to Abchurch Lane
A major project has been undertaken starting in the summer of 2024 and continuing through 2025 into 2026 covering King William Street, Lombard Street, Cannon Street and many of the lanes that connect them including Abchurch Lane.
This means that there will be road closures due to roadworks and building work. Access whilst this work is underway will be for pedestrians only, with very limited access to vehicles.
President's Newsletter
The last physical meeting achieved some sort of record as we had 53 separate displayers each showing one frame to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Postal Historians; I don’t think there have ever been so many displayers at one meeting. With a fine dinner at Trinity House to look forward to afterwards, nearly all came in person and over 140 Members and Guests visited Abchurch Lane that day, a truly special one.
The week before saw the first of the four FIP shows this year, which took place in Dubai, a first world show in the region. Well organised, and with some stunning exhibits, many from our members, it was great to meet so many of our international members. I’m sure there will be many more of you at Boston this coming May. It may seem like a long show at eight days, but it needs to be that long to fit in the social programme! One of the highlights will be the RPSL dinner on the Wednesday night (27th May), get your tickets in advance from the members area of the RPSL website; follow this link to the tickets in the website shop.
These large physical shows are for all of us, whether you want to acquire, meet up with your friends or take in the exhibits – these are the events where each of all of these aspects or our pursuit can be best indulged. They reflect a huge effort by teams of largely unpaid volunteers, so do get behind them and make the show a part of your travel plans in 2026.
The programme of meetings at Abchurch Lane has been tailored to fit around almost all these events and so I hope to meet as many members as possible somewhere in the world this year.
2025/26 programme
Thursday 26 February RPSL Meeting Day
This week we have the chance to enjoy what may well be the finest assembly ever of India’s Postal Stationery. This will be presented by Sandeep Jaiswal who is coming from the United States to display his material to us and I think may have one or two surprising items. Do come and enjoy the display.
Tuesday 3 March RPSL Zoom Meeting
Malcolm Gascoyne will be presenting his De La Rue story from playing cards to postage stamps. This is a big subject and this will be just the first instalment. Almost every Commonwealth country used De La Rue at some stage, as well as many others and Malcolm’s talk will be of interest to many. These meetings are open to all, though you do need to register via Eventbrite (follow this link to do so) and do tell your philatelic friends.
Thursday 12 March RPSL Meeting Day
A group of Finnish members, led by Ari Muhonen, will be showing material from their country, one that has had a fascinating history and produced some of the world’s iconic classic stamps.
Virtual Stampex
If you enjoy the virtual as well as the physical, the Royal will be at ‘Virtual Stampex’ which is ‘on’ from 6-8 March.
Regional Meetings
At home the season of regional meetings are upon us starting with Wales & Herefordshire on 28 February, North-West on 8 March, East Midlands on 14 March, East Region on 28 March and Wessex on 31 March. I will be there at the first two, which seem to be fuller than normal, perhaps we really are getting over the pandemic. The East Midlands meeting is not listed in the last London Philatelist but will be in Northampton, contact John Spencer for full details, nor is the Wessex meeting, contact David Winnie. These will be listed in the March LP as will the regional meeting of the Belgian members being organised by Patrick Maselis for 11 April. Full details of these and all our regional meetings can be found on the website here. Do encourage non-members to attend as your guest. With fewer local Societies these days it is an opportunity for all and an opportunity to recruit new members.
Ulm 22 October 2026 – RPSL invited to display
Looking further ahead, and in case you missed it before Christmas, the Annual Postal History Masters will take place in Ulm in October 2026 and RPSL members have been invited to take the leading role in competing for the famous Gold, Silver and Bronze Posthorns. There are six categories, plus literature so 21 Posthorns are available. The exhibition is open from 22nd to 24th October and I’m sure there will be a great response from members. Chris King has agreed to co-ordinate the RPSL participation and there will be at least one London-based commissioner. Please let Chris know if you would like to take part, email: chris.king@postalhistory.net, as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Simon.
Simon Richards RDP FRPSL
President
The Royal Philatelic Society London
23 February 2026
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
The 4pm and 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.