Famed Winston Churchill portrait is stolen from the wall of Canadian hotel and replaced with a fake
- Famous photo, known as ‘the Roaring Lion’, was taken by Yousuf Karsh in 1941
- It has been hanging in the Château Laurier hotel in Ottawa since 1998
- However, last Friday it was discovered missing by an employee of the hotel
- The employee noticed the frame didn’t quite match, and raised the alarm
- Police are investigating, but the photographs whereabouts remains a mystery
One of the most iconic photographs of Winston Churchill has gone missing from a hotel in Canada, and mysteriously replaced with a fake.
The famous photo – known as ‘the Roaring Lion’ and taken by Yousuf Karsh in 1941 – had been on display at the Château Laurier hotel in Ottawa since 1998.
However, on August 19, an employee at the hotel noticed the photograph had been replaced and alerted the police, who are now investigating the mystery.
One of the most iconic photographs of Winston Churchill (pictured) has gone missing from a hotel in Canada, and mysteriously replaced with a fake
The famous photo – known as ‘the Roaring Lion’ and taken by Yousuf Karsh in 1941 – had been on display at the Château Laurier hotel in Ottawa since 1998. Pictured: The photo is seen in display in the hotel in a video report by Canada’s CBC News
Over the years, the photograph has become one of the most iconic taken of the late British Prime Minister, who led the country through most of the Second World War.
It is so famous, infact, that it appears on Britain’s five pound note. It was not immediately clear how much the original negative is worth.
The picture was taken on Canada’s Parliament Hill shortly after Churchill had delivered a wartime speech to the Canadian parliament, and just moments after Karsh famously took a cigar out of the leader’s mouth.
A staff member at the historic hotel, which sits just down the road from Parliament Hill, noticed something wrong with the portrait last Friday night.
Looking at the other portraits on the walls in the hotel’s lounge – also taken by Karsh – he realized the frame did not match.
The hotel’s general manager phoned Jerry Fielder – the director of Karsh’s estate who was hired by the photographer himself in 1979 – to come to the Château Laurier.
The original photo that was meant to be hanging on the wall was made from a negative and signed by Karsh. When Fielder was sent a copy of the signature on the picture found in the lobby on Friday, he immediately recognized it as a fake.
‘It wasn’t his signature,’ Fielder told CBC Radio’s Ottowa Morning on Tuesday. ‘I couldn’t believe that anyone would do this. It had been there for so long and had been such a part of the hotel. It was shocking and very saddening.’
On August 19, an employee at the hotel (pictured, file photo) noticed the photograph had been replaced and alerted the police, who are now investigating the mystery
The whereabouts of the real photograph remains a mystery. Fielder said the last time he saw it hanging in the hotel was in July 2019, and he is sure that was the real thing.
It could have been snatched at any point since then.
Fielder told the radio station it ‘was obviously thought out and planned’. He added: ‘I would like [whoever took it] to give it back, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.’
The hotel is in possession of 15 photographs taken by Karsh. Because of the security risk, the five that were still hanging in the lounge as of Friday have been taken down until they can be better secured.
‘We are deeply saddened by this brazen act. The hotel is incredibly proud to house this stunning Karsh collection, which was securely installed in 1998,’ a statement from the Fairmont hotel said.
Michel Prévost, president of La Société d’histoire de l’Outaouais, said Karsh had a long history with the hotel. He lived there with his first wife for 18 years, and he had a studio in the building until 1992.
The picture was taken on Canada’s Parliament Hill shortly after Churchill had delivered a wartime speech to the Canadian parliament, and just moments after Yousuf Karsh (pictured) famously took a cigar out of the leader’s mouth
The photographer originally travelled from Armenia, and made Ottowa his home from 1924 until the 1990s. According to Fielder, he took took pictures of over 14,000 people in his career – with the portrait of Churchill launching his career.
As the story goes, Churchill did not want his photo taken. He permitted Karsh a single photo. To make the most of it, the photographer took a cigar out of the leader’s mouth at the last moment – prompting the scowling expression.
‘Then [Churchill] said, “You may take one more.” And then he was smiling and looked very benign. But it’s photograph [of him scowling] that has become world famous,’ Fielder said of the story when speaking to the radio station.
Karsh died in 2002. He is considered one of the most famous portrait photographers of the 20th century, having taken pictures of Queen Elizabeth II, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Ernest Hemingway, George Bernard Shaw and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The imposter photograph has now been replaced by a note from the hotel. Whether the famous photo will ever return to its rightful place is yet to be seen.
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