The Roaring Lion Returns
After nearly two years, The Roaring Lion, Yousef Karsh’s iconic portrait of Winston Churchill, was safely returned to the walls of Fairmont Château Laurier, where Karsh always intended it to reside.
Karsh, a celebrated resident photographer at the hotel for 19 years, gifted this world-renowned portrait to the Château, forever linking it to the hotel’s storied legacy.
Stolen during the pandemic between December 25, 2021, and January 6, 2022, the original portrait had been replaced with an imitation, deceiving everyone until a hotel employee discovered the theft in August 2022.
In a heartwarming turn of events, The Roaring Lion was recovered and retrieved in Rome, following an official handover at the Canadian Embassy in September of 2024.
Remarkably, only 3% of stolen artwork is ever recovered, making this return a rare and extraordinary event. The Roaring Lion, now in its rightful home, continues to captivate visitors and honor the legacy of one of the greatest photographers of all time.
Today, you will find The Roaring Lion hanging on the Château’s walls —where art, history, and Karsh’s vision have come to life once again.
Portraits of the Powerful
Yousuf Karsh was a world-renowned portrait photographer who lived at Fairmont Château Laurier for 18 years, operating a studio on the sixth floor where he shot photos of international celebrities. When he moved in 1998, Karsh donated seven of his portraits to the hotel. These seven outstanding photos are now a part of our history and are located in the Zoe’s Lounge and the Karsh Suite, along with eight portraits his wife Estrellita gifted the hotel years later.
Image of Yousuf and Estrellita at Little Wings, their home in Ottawa, 1960s.
Credit: Yousuf Karsh.