First Postage Stamps After Confederation

The stamps pictured here (catalogue values of $169, $100, and $42) are part of a series (stamp numbers 21-33) that were issued between 1868 and 1875. The stamps have different values and colours but are all the same image. The new Dominion of Canada chose this bust of Queen Victoria as the symbol for its first postage stamps. This is normal - most countries pictured the current Head of State on both coins and postage stamps. It's just not quite as interesting as the beaver image used in 1851. Since Prince Albert passed away in 1861, it was no longer necessary to put his image on a stamp.

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria

After the beaver, the next two most important symbols to recognize were Prince Albert and Queen Victoria (Canadian Postage Stamps #2 and #3). Looking at stamps from other countries, I would have expected Queen Victoria to be first. It would be natural to recognize the head of state before the beaver, no?

Now if I didn't already have some familiarity with the British monarchy, I would think that a "prince" is the son of a king or queen (in this case Queen Victoria's son). However, that is more of a modern interpretation of the word (or maybe just the simplistic vocabulary definition I was given as a child). The word "prince" in the past was used synonymously with "lord".  Here is the definition from Mariam-Webster:

1

a : Monarch, Kingb : the ruler of a principality or state

2

: a male member of a royal family; especially : a son of the sovereign

3

: a nobleman of varying rank and status

4

: one likened to a prince; especially : a man of high rank or of high standing in his class or profession

So Prince Albert was Queen Victoria's husband or "consort", but apparently although he was royal himself was a little beneath the Queen. Therefore, she did not grant him the title of "King consort" but rather the lesser title of "Prince Consort".

Despite the fact that he was a mere "Prince Consort", he was recognized first by Canada Post. Is this because he was male, just more interesting or popular than the Queen, or maybe it has no significance at all?

Either way, everyone seems just a little more interested in the topic of British monarchy (and our Canadian head of state) now with the publicity around Will and Kate. We can ask these prediction questions such as: Does Kate get called the "Queen Consort" or "Princess Consort"? Who is more popular: Will or Kate? If Canada were to produce separate stamps, who would be more likely to get the first one: Will or Kate?