A series of protest labels based on the Penny Black design with an image of Queen Victoria circa 1888 and inscribed I AM NOT AMUSED, or CHIRK WAS NOT AMUSED appeared briefly on post from the village of Chirk, the gateway to North Wales, most notably on a letter to the Queen herself. Most used design was a se-tenant strip of four stamps featuring a progressively fading portrait. The stamps are usually found as a strip, but some single stamps are found and are considered rarities. There were a number of trials and variations. All are imperforate.

The legend behind the story is that they were prepared by a local printer, who went to see the Royal Train pass through his village only to find that Her Majesty had ordered the curtains to be closed for that part of the journey. He was expected to propose to the love of his life the day, but his beloved refused to speak with him as he ‘preferred HM to her!!’ The last letter, the one to addressed to the palace was postmarked Liverpool. The man was never seen again.