Royalties have been included amongst collectors almost from the beginning of Philately. The late Mr. Westoby, in describing[21] a number of rarities in private albums in Paris in 1869, includes a mysterious rarity of Mexico as being one of which three specimens only are known to exist, "one of them [_i.e._, one of the remaining two] in the possession of the Princess Clotilde, wife of the Prince Napoleon, and the other in that of the King of Portugal." King George V. probably owes some of his early enthusiasm for stamps to his uncle, the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. As Duke of Edinburgh, the latter had long been a collector before the fact was made publicly known by his cordial support of the London Philatelic Exhibition of 1890, which he formally opened. At the lunch which followed the ceremony he said:-- "To-day Prince George of Wales starts--nay, probably has started--from Chatham in the _Thrush_, to the command of which he has been appointed. I am sure you will join me in wishing him a prosperous and pleasant cruise. He also is a stamp collector, and I hope that he will return with a goodly number of additions from North America and the West Indies. I am a collector, too, and I have been only too glad to contribute specimens to this fine exhibition." The newspaper reports of that Exhibition state that "The Duke of Edinburgh, before leaving, intimated his intention of again visiting this marvellous proof of civilization and progress." In the same year, H.R.H. became Hon. President of the London Philatelic Society. [Illustration: A PAGE FROM THE KING'S HISTORIC COLLECTION OF THE STAMPS OF GREAT BRITAIN, SHOWING THE METHOD OF "WRITING UP."]