Emotional Mary McCartney Speaks at Linda McCartney USPS Stamp Dedication Ceremony

Mary McCartney signing First Day of Issue envelopes at the Linda McCartney dedication ceremony held by the U.S. Postal Service at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Sept. 25, 2026 (Photo © Greg Brodsky)

The U.S. Postal Service honored Linda McCartney today (Sept. 25, 2026), one day after what would have been her 85th birthday, with a pane of stamps featuring her still life and landscape images. McCartney, who married Paul McCartney in 1969, had a multifaceted career as a photographer, musician, cookbook author and animal rights activist who was a pivotal figure in the vegetarianism movement. Their daughter, Mary McCartney—who as a newborn is famously featured on the back cover of her father’s 1970 solo debut album in a photo taken by her mother—was the featured guest speaker at the dedication ceremony for the stamps held at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. At times, Mary, herself an accomplished photographer and documentary filmmaker, got emotional while giving her remarks.

In 1966, Linda McCartney’s photographs of the Rolling Stones on a yacht cruising New York’s Hudson River were published. The shots were so well-received that soon after she was photographing musicians such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors and Aretha Franklin. She captured relaxed, intimate portraits, often with a sense of joy and humor. In 1968, a portrait of Eric Clapton earned her the distinction of being the first female photographer to have their work featured on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Postmaster General David Steiner told the audience, “The mail is how we send something personal to people we love and the choice of the stamp [is personal]. Linda McCartney earned her place through the strength of her work, her art that endures and enriches.”

“I am very honored to be here for many reasons,” said Mary McCartney in her remarks. “My mom gave me the opportunity to look at her as an artist… and I started asking her questions about her life and her career. If I hadn’t picked up a camera myself, I may not have gotten to know her in that way,” she said, pausing for a moment to collect herself.

“She always had her family with her and made everything look so easy. She was very spontaneous. When she’d see something she liked, she’d get the camera in focus and click it.”

Mary took her mother to lunch one day and asked how she got her start, explaining that she was working at Town & Country magazine as a receptionist and saw the invitation for the Stones’ 1966 press junket. “The Stones were not that big at that time,” Mary recalled her mother’s tale, as she “stole” the invitation and RSVP’d. The band ultimately invited her as the only photographer allowed onto their chartered boat and “she took amazing photographs… remarkable portraits that really captured the essence of each individual,” said Mary.

Of her mother’s photographing Hendrix, Mary noted that the guitarist invited her to his recording studio and they collaborated as mutual artists. While in London in 1968, Linda was at a club called the Bag O’Nails when her future husband spotted the “free spirit” across the room. The two became a couple and encouraged each other. My dad would say, “We’d go for a drive and I get really stressed about getting lost driving [about] London,” and she was so [poised] and that really brought them together and gave them the foundation to the crazy point where he said, ‘Will you join the band [Wings] with me?’ I still do not understand how she [audience laughter made the rest of the sentence unintelligible]. But she did it. She didn’t overthink anything. She always kept that innocence about her.”

We were first introduced to Mary McCartney in this photo taken by Linda McCartney that appeared on the back cover of Paul McCartney’s 1970 solo debut, McCartney.

“You would think, ‘You’re Paul McCartney. You’ve just broken up with the Beatles… will you join the band?’ Your first answer if sane would be ‘Absolutely not!’ But she never did that. I’m so glad that she didn’t have that in her personality because she probably wouldn’t have [done certain] things if she had thought about it.”

In 1971, Linda joined her husband in Wings, playing keyboards and providing vocals. The band would sell millions of albums before breaking up in 1981.

Watch the band, with kids in tow, in 1975

Her first book of photography, Linda’s Pictures: A Collection of Photographs, was published in 1976. Her other photography books include Sun Prints (1988) and Linda McCartney’s Sixties: Portrait of an Era (1992). She also experimented with Polaroids of her family, animals, and small moments from everyday life. Her photographs have been exhibited at the Royal Photographic Society in Bath, England, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and throughout the United States.

In the early 1970s, the McCartneys became vegetarians, and Linda would go on to become an outspoken animal rights advocate. Her first vegetarian cookbook, Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, was published in 1989 and became a bestseller. [Books by and about Linda McCartney are available here.]

Of her mother’s passion for animals, Mary said, “we were a vegetarian family. She would talk to the animals. She’s been an inspiration to all of us. Our kids and all of our grandkids… we’re all vegetarian.”

In 1995, Linda McCartney was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died on April 17, 1998.

The series of USPS stamps honoring Linda McCartney based on her photographs.

The pane of 20 stamps showcases five different photographs taken by McCartney. [They’re available to order here.]

“Shadow. Sussex,” 1984 — a black-and-white photo of a horse in the snow standing on its hind legs
“Sunflowers,” mid 1990’s – color image of an arrangement of sunflowers and other brightly colored flowers on a grey weathered wooden table.
“Through a Glass Teapot,” 1996 — a black-and-white photo of a half-full glass teapot, with the inverted reflection of a tree in the glass
“Carnation. Sussex,” 1985 — astill life of a single yellow carnation in a vase against a white lace curtain with flowers
“Cherries, Antigua” — taken in 1969 from the same photo shoot as the cover art from her husband’s 1970 debut solo album, McCartney

The selvage features “Self Portrait,” a 1992 black-and-white self-portrait of McCartney behind her camera. Derry Noyes, an art director for the USPS, designed the stamps and stamp pane using McCartney’s photographs.

Mary McCartney at the Linda McCartney dedication ceremony held by the U.S. Postal Service at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Sept. 25, 2026 (Photo © Greg Brodsky)

Related: We were also in attendance when John Lennon was honored with a stamp by the USPS in 2018