Soon after the birth of William, “a limited number of governments” issued a set of commemorative stamps to celebrate the birth of the second-in-line to the throne. According to an article from The Guardian on June 23, 1982, the stamps were “overprints” meaning instead of a special new design, they involved printing a message onto an existing set of stamps. This meant there were likely a low quantity of these stamps, as numbers relied on the availability of suitable existing stamps to overprint.

The article read: “In addition to their immense historical importance, these stamps will be sought after by thousands of stamp collectors in the years to come, as unlike other stamp collections where time allows special designs to be incorporated, the vast majority of these stamps will be overprints – a message or tribute overprinted onto an existing set of stamps.

“As stamp collectors already know, a delightful set of stamps to honour the 21st birthday of HRH The Princess of Wales has only just been announced and a number of countries have confirmed they will overprint these particular stamps with their ‘Royal Baby’ tribute.

“What could be more perfect – a ‘Royal Baby’ overprint onto a ‘21st Birthday’ set of stamps!”

The article added that the number of stamps to be printed “looks almost certain to be insufficient to meet the enormous worldwide demand from stamp collectors, dealer and souvenir collectors.”

Meanwhile, British postage stamps have also been known to commemorate special royal events.

For example, last year Meghan and Harry’s wedding was commemorated in a set of stamps, as was the Prince of Wales’ 70th birthday.

In 2017, the 65th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne was honoured in the form of a stamp, as was her 90th birthday in 2016.

Slightly further back, in 2015 a special stamp was made to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II as the UK’s longest reigning monarch and before that her diamond jubilee in 2012.

Prince William has been celebrated multiple times including his own wedding in 2011 and his 21st birthday in 2003.

Prince William himself has said he is “absolutely thrilled” for his brother Harry and sister-in-law Meghan after the baby was born this week.

He joked that he was welcoming his brother to the “sleep deprivation society” that is parenthood.

William and Kate have three young children – Prince George, 5, Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince Louis, 1.

The Duchess of Cambridge said: “It’s a special time, obviously with Louis and Charlotte just having had their birthdays it’s such a great time of year to have a baby. Spring is in the air.”

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