YOUSUF KARSH AND THE "DEVIL'S HEAD" PHOTO OF ELIZABETH II

Uys was never the photographer involved. The photo used is one take by Canadian Yousuf Karsh … who was a more respectable and far less notorious shutter bug. The pic was one of many he took at a sitting of The Princess Elizabeth in 1951. All had her wearing a tiara. That was removed from Karsh’s photo in pre-Photoshop days by some cunning folk in darkest Canada. The NEVER retouched the hair not covered by the tiara of the original.

A detailed factual account is available on the Canadian Coin & Currency web site. It contains a pic of the photo used on the banknote. The story proves far more mundane but I do like the two years gap before anyone noticed Old Nick in HM’s tresses and complained. That dates the Devil’s Head as 1956.

There is one error. Coin & Currency state that Karsh’s pics were those of the Queen. Trouble is her dad was still alive. She was still the heir-apparent and a princess at the time of her sitting.

So the Uys and Crowley connection is another numismatic myth that needs burying deeply altho’ my experience tells me it will never go away.

PS I have not been able to confirm that Uys took any photos of Her Majesty at any time. Given that he was an openly homosexual and that was still a significant crime in Old Blighty in the 50s, I doubt if the royal retainers at the time would have allowed him within a stone’s throw of HM. It is likely that her hubby may well have been rather outspoken on the subject.

To read the complete article, see: The Devil's In the Details: The Story of the Devil's Face (www.cdncoin.com/kb_results.asp?ID=14)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
THE 1954 “DEVIL’S FACE” CANADIAN BANKNOTES (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n01a23.html)
YVES BARIL AND THE "DEVIL'S HEAD" PORTRAIT (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n02a10.html)

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