A British stamp honoring the memory of the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury is kicking up a stir in the U.K., even though the stamp has been in circulation less than a week.

Mercury, who passed away in 1991 from AIDS, has been honored with a stamp as part of the Royal Mail's millennium series recognizing some of the most famous Britons of the last 1000 years.

But the Associated Press reports that some in the U.K. have objected to any stamp being issued to honor the flamboyant Mercury, with one "London Daily Mail" columnist criticizing the Royal Mail for honoring the star's "degenerate lifestyle."

Others have a more technical beef about the stamp, which also features a small rendering of Queen drummer Roger Taylor in the background, guidelines for Royal Mail stamps include a provision that the only living persons who can be depicted on stamps are members of Britain's Royal Family.

The Royal Mail has fired back with a statement on the controversial stamp, noting that

both the Queen and Freddie Mercury's family had approved its final design.