While the gate now has a limited role in the defence of Gibraltar, it continues to provide vehicular and pedestrian access through Charles V Wall.

[4][5][6] Prince Edward's Gate, which was constructed in 1790, extends from the northwest corner of the Flat Bastion, another sixteenth-century fortification which projects southward from the Charles V Wall.

[7][8][9] The gate was positioned adjacent to the retired flank of the bastion, behind the orillon of its west wall (pictured in OS map at right), to aid in its defence.

"[14] The gate was named after Prince Edward (2 November 1767 – 23 January 1820), the fourth son of King George III, and later the Duke of Kent (1799) and the father of Queen Victoria (1819).

[8][15][16] At the time that the gate was opened, in 1790, the prince (pictured at right) was serving with the military in Gibraltar, as commander of the 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers).

The issue in 1971 (link below) consisted of a pair of stamps, with two versions of the same view of the gate, one from an early nineteenth century print and the other from a twentieth-century photograph.