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  • Sunday, 14 December 2025

Red post box sent to Antarctic - on King's orders

Red post box sent to Antarctic - on King's orders

As a gift from King Charles III to workers at a remote Antarctic research station, a shiny new red box has been given. The Royal Mail lamp post box was sent to staff at the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey station in Rothera. After Kirsten Shaw, a station support assistant who runs the British Antarctic Territory Post Office for staff, demanded a change to their handmade box, which contained the King Charles III cypher, the box was delivered.

Being in Antarctica is amazing, but it's also full of extremes, so I think it''s a good thing to post back home to share your experiences.
You put down on paper and give to someone else in this moment of your life," she said.

The Rothera research station, which opened in 1975, is the first British Antarctic Survey (BAS) center and a nationally recognized global hub for climate research. It is located 1,860 kilometers (1,155 miles) south of the Falkland Islands. Staff work and live at the station for months at a time.

Getting the paper is really exciting for the Rothera team.
Ms Shaw said.
If you're doing fieldwork for many months, the satisfaction of receiving a letter — a real, tangible piece of paper with handwritten from colleagues and families — is such a boost.
It's a wonderful way to connect people in a way that no email or text message can do.

The box will replace the station's handmade and painted one.

The Royal Household collaborated with Royal Mail to schedule this particular delivery,
the BAS said. It was delivered by RRS Sir David Attenborough, the United Kingdom's polar research vessel, along with the first significant drop in supplies to the station after the long Antarctic winter. The post box will be installed in the Discovery Building, a new scientific center and operations hub.

Postal services in such a remote location are obviously not straightforward. Ms Shaw's job is to manage the formal Post Office logistics of getting mail in and out of Antarctica from Rothera, as well as getting mail out to employees from other BAS stations and science field camps. To the Falkland Islands, where BAS maintains a branch in Stanley, the RRS Sir David Attenborough or on BAS aircraft must be assembled and carried on board. The last leg involves transport to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where letters are sent to the Royal Mail postal network for onward delivery.

Maintaining a postal service in the British Antarctic Territory is much more than a symbolic gesture,
HM Commissioner Jane Rumble said. "It reinforces Britain's presence and heritage in Antarctica and provides a vital link to the rest of the world.

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