Princess Diana's death on August 31, 1997 shocked the world and hearts were touched in Southwest Florida too.

A mourning cover, as shown above, with a black border around the edge of the envelope was issued for the funeral of Princess Diana in Westminster Abbey by the FMF Local Post.

A special imperforated dry-gum activated local stamp, hand colored in red and green, with simulated perforations was issued and used on specially prepared covers. The outline of the local post stamp does not show up on the above cover since it is of white paper on the white envelope. The covers were cancelled with a Mailers Postmark Permit #1 cancellation from Fort Myers Florida, with a date of Sept. 6, 1997, the day of the funeral. This postmark permit was issued by the U.S. Postal Service to Joseph J. Frasketi, Jr. who is the operator of the FMF Local Post.

A similar cover to the above was airmailed to Princes' Harry and William at Buckingham Palace at time of issue.

This FMF Local Post stamp is perhaps the first tribute to Princess Diana issued by a local post. Does anyone know of an earlier local post stamp that fits this catagory? If so I would appreciate hearing from you by email or with your order.

To learn more about local post collecting or perhaps you want to start a local post of your own, I would recommend joining the Local Post Collectors Society, you can find more information about this Society by going to their website: Click Here

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