Some 60 people were gathered at the Court Suite of the Grosvenor House Hotel, the palatial building in central London recently bought by the Sahara India Pariwar.

The gathering on Tuesday night “to celebrate the unveiling of ten Royal Mail stamps with Mr Subrata Roy Sahara's image on them” drew a prestigious crowd, amongst them Cherie Booth, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons.

“It is a great honour to my husband Mr Subrata Roy Sahara that a postal stamp is being issued in his name by Royal Mail of United Kingdom,” wrote Swapna Roy, in an invite to the event. “We salute your accomplishments,” Bercow told Roy, adding that he always respected “people who make their own way” creating employment opportunities.

“I don't have the words to express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude,” an emotional Roy told the gathering. “Thanks a lot to Royal Mail for giving me the honour. I will try to deserve it.”

Such a stamp would be an honour indeed. The Royal Family aside (and very rare examples such as the Ashes and World Cup rugby winners), no living person has had a stamp issued in his/her name.

There have been many commemorative ones, of course, featuring everyone from characters of the Harry Potter books to Charles Darwin, and a forthcoming series on the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In fact, Royal Mail confirmed that it hadn't issued a stamp in Roy Sahara's name, but pointed instead to its paid-for services into which group the Sahara stamps fall. There are Smilers, which allow any member of the public to create a personalised stamp, with their own pictures on it, for a small fee, while a similar business service is available.

“Companies and individuals around the world purchase Royal Mail's customised stamp sheets and we are delighted to have produced these limited edition Business Customised sheets to mark this occasion,” said a spokesperson for Royal Mail.

The Sahara India Pariwar referred journalists to a Royal Mail representative for the whole of Asia called Manoj Joshi, based in India. However, Royal Mail confirmed that it had no employee of that name “nor indeed any offices in India, though it was not unusual for others to facilitate” its business services.

“It's a big big big honour,” said Roy, who says he's now planning to establish his international headquarters here in Britain ahead of further international expansion and is, among other things, considering an international listing.

“I owe it to the United Kingdom. It has truly become my second home country.”

“I have no idea about how you get stamps issued or produced by Royal Mail here at all, but I do think it is an amazing achievement, of all that the company has achieved,” said Cherie Booth.

“I am also excited by the fact that they will base their international business headquarters here. Mr Roy is correct when he said that what we need in Britain is good quality jobs.”

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