The Royal Wedding in 1981 of Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer a 1st day Issue Personal Invitation?

Question

I have a original Personal Invitation of the Royal Wedding for son Charles the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. I bought it at a antiques fair in England in 2001. It is a personal invite for a Lord in Cornwall. The envelope is navy and white with 2 Royal stamps of Charles and Diana 14 pence and 25 pence. It is postmarked July 22nd 1981, and the Royal postmark is stamped first day issue. So how do find I out the value of this? Because it is so beautiful and it is a personal Royal doucument? And in the invatation it states how they met, where they met, and so on . Plus who designed the invatation with the address of the Highgrove in Gloucestershire and London . Where does one find out more about this and of the value of this unique Royal memorabilia? Any useful information would be appreaciated. Thank You

Answer 1

I hate to burst your bubble but the stamps were issued a week before the Day of the marriage and therefore real invites would not bear the stamps as these would have been sent months before the wedding.

Answer 2

I'm not sure about nuswimgu....(?)'s assessment.  The stamps sound like the two official stamps that were issued in commemoration of the event, and, while the invitation may have stamps and a postmark, NO ONE in their right mind actually MAILS a first day cover like that.  It would still have been hand delivered, and I'll bet you can tell it has never been sent through the mail.

A first day cover is generally kept in mint condition, as is my copy of the same stamps.  Postmarked, first day cover, in London,  1981.  (It's in a folder in my office...very precious to me).  

A reputable stamp dealer, or as nuswimgu suggested, an antiques dealer can give you a proper evaluation of what you have, and tell you how much to insure it for.

Answer 3

Frankly, it sounds fraudulent.  I thought that all the invitations were hand delivered.  Also, I'm not sure that any wedding invitation would give the history of the couple.  

I suggest you contact Sotheby's or Christie's.