Royal Portraits and Use of Images

If you wish to use or reproduce Royal Portraits and Images, please read this section carefully, as legal limitations apply.

Royal Portraits to Order or Download


Use of Royal Images

Royal Arms and Insignia

The royal arms, the crown and the royal cypher are personal to members of the Royal Family and cannot be used without prior consent by the members of the Royal Family.

Requests for use of such emblems should be addressed to the Advisor, Protocol and Special Programs, Policy, Program and Protocol Branch, Government House (1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, K1A 0A1), accompanied by a sketch or drawing showing the intended uses.

Advice will be sought from the Manager, Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion, Department of Canadian Heritage, before the request is sent to the Lord Chamberlain's Office at Buckingham Palace for final approval.

Commercial Use

The following rules govern the use of the royal arms, crest, standards, photographs, portraits, engravings, effigies and busts of The Queen and members of the Royal Family for commercial purposes.

These rules are made to avoid unfair exploitation of the Royal Family by commercial organizations for their own advantage.

Prohibitions

Royal images may not be used on the following articles:

  • Medals, medallions and coins;
  • Adhesive seals (including commercially issued stamps);
  • Trade marks and designs;
  • Articles of dress;
  • Household linen and furnishing fabrics;
  • Any case, container, box cover or label.

Restrictions

Should the image of The Queen or a member of the Royal Family be shown with that of another person who is not a Member of the Royal Family, the permission of the Lord Chamberlain's Office must be sought in writing.

Images of Members of the Royal Family under the age of 18 may not be used for any commercial purpose.


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Articles for sale

Other than as detailed in paragraph 1 and 2, royal images may be used only on articles for sale that are:

  • Of a permanent kind
  • Free from advertisement
  • In good taste
  • Carry no implication that the firm concerned has received Royal Custom or that the article has been purchased by a member of the Royal Family.

Stationery

Royal images may be used for the following provided they are free from advertisement:

  • Portrait postcards (which may include younger members of the Royal Family in family groups);
  • Greeting cards that carry only formal greetings; and
  • Calendars (as a special exception Trade Calendars may carry the name of the firm and its trading description).

Advertising

Except when advertising a book, newspaper, magazine article or television documentary about a member of the Royal Family, royal images may not be used for advertising purposes in any medium.

A firm's advertisement may not include photographs of members of the Royal Family visiting their works or exhibition stands, or of being publicly involved with their products. Publication of film or photographs of such visits may, however, be used for House Journals or for specifically in-house purposes.

Requests relating to the use of royal images in advertising should be addressed as follows:

Manager,
Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion
Canadian Identity Directorate
Department of Canadian Heritage
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0M5
Tel: (819) 994-1353
Fax: (819) 997-8550

Nota: A sketch of the intended use must be submitted by fax.

Copyright

Any question of copyright involved in the reproduction of a royal image must be settled by the prospective user direct with the copyright holder. Nothing in these rules gives any right to the use of a particular image.

National occasions

Certain of these rules are relaxed on certain occasions when due notice is given by way of Canada Gazette.

[Taken from a document issued by the Lord Chamberlain's Office, Buckingham Palace, in 1982.]