Edward VIII post box: Quite rare and in a state of disrepair!
Though he reigned for less than a year* before abdicating , Edward VIII, or more accurately, his royal cypher, appeared on perhaps more than 200 post boxes around the UK (The Letter Box Study Group reports 271). That might sound a lot, but these post boxes are relatively rare. Fewer than 170 remain today, accounting for less than 0.2 per cent of all the ~115,000 postboxes in the country. (Not surprisingly, Queen Elizabeth II post boxes are by far the most numerous and I'm guessing Charles III are by far the rarest...) Though I do enjoy spotting VR post boxes (see my blog post here ) simply because they are the oldest, I have to admit I was thrilled when I encountered this 1936 Edward VIII pillar box on the Great North Road near East Finchley. But, gosh, it is in a bit of a sorry state! Edward VIII's crumbling facade * 326 days from the death of his father on 20 January 1936 to 11 December 1936, the date of abdication. So that's 1.2 days per post box - I reckon that's a...