Issue date: April 20, 2018

From Canada Post’s Details magazine:

June 2 of this year marks the 65th anniversary of the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – the longest reigning monarch in British history. Many “more mature” Canadians will recognize the Karsh photo on the cover of the stamp booklet from a series of five coronation stamps issued in the spring of 1953.

The portrait on this new stamp is from a famous sitting in July 1951, when the Queen was still known as Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth. Over a period of more than 40 years, Karsh photographed Her Majesty on five occasions, two of them before she became Queen.

One of the world’s most photographed women, Queen Elizabeth has had her likeness captured by some of the world’s most famous portrait photographers, including Dorothy Wilding, Lord Snowdon, Cecil Beaton and Annie Leibovitz. It is this image by Armenian-Canadian Yousuf Karsh, however, that is best known to generations of Canadians.

Canada Post also says this issue features something new: “This double-sided uncut press sheet, our first to feature stamp booklets, showcases the front, back and inside panels of 12 self-adhesive stamp booklets celebrating the 65th anniversary of the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.” Item #414083149 is $102. Only 1,000 available.

[press release April 20th]
New stamp celebrates 65-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II, longest-reigning sovereign in Canada’s modern era

OTTAWA, April 20, 2018 /CNW/ – Canada Post’s latest stamp features a portrait of then-Princess Elizabeth months before her accession to the throne. The image is part of a series of famous pictures taken by renowned Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh in 1951.

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada, along with Jessica L. McDonald, Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and CEO of Canada Post, unveiled the stamp during a ceremony at Rideau Hall.

At 25, Elizabeth became Queen when her father, King George VI, died in the winter of 1952. Her coronation was delayed to allow for an appropriate mourning period. The coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953. Three million people lined the streets of London along the procession route. Canadians celebrated with fireworks, parades and horse races; and the Governor General issued a silver spoon to each Canadian child born on coronation day.

An estimated 227 million people around the world watched the coronation, which was the first to be televised. Other firsts followed:

• Queen Elizabeth was the first monarch to be crowned Queen of Canada.
• She was the first British monarch to visit Australia and New Zealand.
• On her first Royal Tour of Canada in 1957, she became the first sovereign to open Parliament by reading the Speech from the Throne.
• The Queen has made 22 Royal Tours of Canada – more than any other nation in the Commonwealth.
• In 2007, she became the longest-living British monarch and in 2015 she became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

Added July 3rd, from Canada Post:
The Official First Day Cover featuring the stamp for the 65th anniversary of the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II contains a typo in the French text on the reverse. It reads that 2017 marks the anniversary of the coronation; the correct year is 2018. Canada Post apologizes for the error.