The Royal Philatelic Collection was begun in the late 1800s by the Duke of York, who became King George V in 1910. The future King was helped at first by his uncle, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, and soon became a serious philatelist himself. He once wrote to his philatelic adviser, J. A. Tilleard, “I wish to have the best collection & not one of the best collections in England.” King George VI later added significantly to the Collection, as has The Queen.