We’ve all heard of babies not turning up bang on time when the doctors have predicted their arrival, but 19 years late for a baby magazine is quite some delayed delivery.
When Chester sci-fi author Paul Edwards ordered a parenting magazine in 2007, just ahead of the birth of his son and when his daughter was just 18 months old, he was probably hoping that it would provide helpful advice and offers to help him navigate the stresses and challenges of bringing up his soon-to-be-two children. Which it might – in 2026
The copy of Mother & Baby he ordered fell through his letterbox last Friday, just 19 years after he ordered it – with both of his children now studying at university.
The late arrival came with a message from Royal Mail apologising “for any inconvenience caused”.
A social media post Edwards made about the incident has now had about 1.5m views and nearly 60,000 likes.
“Well done @RoyalMail – took a mere 19 years to deliver this magazine,” he wrote on X. “Inconvenience? Well the kids have now left home …”
Edwards said he found the late delivery “just bizarre” and told the BBC: “Like a lot of relatively new parents, you sign up for subscriptions for things to give you advice, offers and provide things to do with the children – then obviously everyone realises you have to work it out for yourself.
“I’m not sure we realised at the time that the magazine was missing. Then it’s suddenly arrived in the post.
“You get a half-torn screwed-up bag and you think: ‘What on earth is this with sincere apologies on it?’”
Royal Mail said it checks its delivery offices and sorting machines daily, and it was likely the magazine had been put back into the postal system by someone, rather than lost internally.
Topically, the postal regulator Ofcom recently launched an investigation into Royal Mail for again missing its annual delivery targets, with almost a quarter of first-class mail arriving late, and has been fined £37m since 2023 for routinely failing to meet delivery targets, although 19 years seems something of an outlier even taking that into account.
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said it would “engage fully with Ofcom” and improving its quality of service was “a top priority”, adding that the business was delivering a significant programme of change, backed by £500m of investment over five years.
Edwards added: “I’ve had a few people telling me to stick it on eBay, but that’s not me. I’ll just chuck it in the bin.”
