The royal family of Rajpipla is coming out with a special envelope to commemorate the 75th anniversary of late Maharaja Vijaysinhji Gohil’s victory at the Epsom Derby.
The royal family of Rajpipla is coming out with a special envelope to commemorate the 75th anniversary of late Maharaja Vijaysinhji Gohil’s victory at the Epsom Derby. His horse, Windsor Lad, won the Derby on June 6, 1934. The Epsom Derby, one of the most prestigious horse races in the world, was first run in Epsom, a town in UK, in 1780. Till date, the late Maharaja Vijaysinhji Gohil remains the only Indian to have won this race.
The Gohils have taken the help of an expert philatelist and the postal department for the release of the special envelope. These envelopes would also be postmarked (i.e., marked with a cancellation stamp).
Giving details of the planned celebration, Manvendrasinh Gohil, the gay prince of Rajpipla, told DNA that as his great grandfather Vijaysinhji is the only Indian horse owner to have won the prestigious race, the Gohil family wants to mark the 75th anniversary of Windsor Lad’s victory in a big way. “The horse won the race on June 6 but we will be holding a function on June 7 so that my father, Maharaja Saheb, can attend it,” said Manvendrasinh. “My father is not in India right now. At the function, the postmaster general of Vadodara will release the special envelope.”
Philatelist Prashant Pandya, who is assisting the Gohils in the matter, told DNA that the special envelopes would have information about the Derby printed on them as well as a picture of the late Vijaysinhji with his horse. They would be postmarked with the family crest of the Gohils.
The royal family’s decision to celebrate the platinum jubilee of Windsor Lad’s victory is significant for another reason. The princely state of Rajpipla was the only state in colonial times to have a postal department of its own.
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