Queen Elizabeth’s First Postage Stamp
1932 Newfoundland postage stamp featuring Princess Elizabeth
The first time Queen Elizabeth appeared on a postage stamp it was in Newfoundland.
Okay, that’s not totally true.
The first time Elizabeth, the child who would become Queen Elizabeth II appeared on a stamp, it was on a stamp for the Newfoundland postal service.
In 1932, Newfoundland issued a 6-cent stamp. It depicted, then Princess Elizabeth, who was only six years-old. She was nearly 20 years from the throne and had never been given the honour of being the picture on a stamp before.
The stamp was a fairly faithful recreation of an image by royal photographer Marcus Adams. It was rendered in blue and accented with a rose and thistle. It featured a young Elizabeth with curly hair and she appears to be holding a… well, I’m not sure exactly what she’s holding… in the blue ink of the stamp it sort of resembles a giant mussel, but that can’t be right.
Even in the Adams photograph it’s a mystery, to me. I guess it could be a teddy bear. If you know, please drop a note in the comments below.
The 1932 Newfoundland stamp may have been Elizabeth’s first appearance on a stamp but it certainly wasn’t her last. She appeared on Newfoundland stamps several times again and, of course, countless times on the postage of nations around the globe.
Princess Elizabeth in Newfoundland
Elizabeth’s first visit to Newfoundland and Labrador came ahead of her coronation as well. She visited the island in 1951 after a 5-week tour of Canada. She attended a service at The Anglican Cathedral in St. John’s, met with Smallwood and, on the eve of her departure she gave a broadcast from Government House in St. John’s where she said:
“It is not easy to say good-bye because, although I am going to a country which is my first home, and although I am happy to be returning to my family and my children, I am also leaving a country which has become a second home in every sense. Wherever we have been throughout the ten provinces, in your great cities, in your towns, in your villages, and indeed in almost every mile that we have travelled through fields, forests, prairies and mountains, we have been welcomed with a warmth of heart that has made us feel how truly we belong to Canada.”
There is some fantastic footage of her visit (and the wild weather during her departure from Portugal Cove) included in the NFB documentary Royal Journey.
Jump to the 49-minute mark to check out the NL weather! If Elizabeth was prone to motion sickness (as has been suggested), it must not have been the best ride of her life.
After becoming Queen, Elizabeth had official visits to Newfoundland and Labrador in 1959, 1978 and 1997 and always drew quite a crowd. She had quieter unofficial visits/stop-overs as well.
Queen Elizabeth in St. John’s, NL. 1978. This pic was taken by my father, all rights reserved.
Personal Note
I have hazy, very early childhood memories of being part of that crowd in 1978 at the sod-turning for the QEII Library on the campus of Memorial University in St. John’s.
And though I don’t follow the monarchy closely, it’s strange to think she’s gone. She was a reassuring constant on the ever-changing world stage and things will different from now on.
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Archival Moments, 2015
Newfoundland Stamp, Stamp Community
Royal Journey, National Film Board of Canada
