With Accession of King Charles III, Look of British Currency Set To Change

The face of King Charles III instead of that of Queen Elizabeth II will begin to be seen on new British coins and banknotes issued in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries beyond the British Isles. These include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, British territories in the Caribbean, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, and the English Channel islands of Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man. Exactly when Britons will notice these changes is not immediately clear, and existing currency with a rendition of Queen Elizabeth will remain in circulation as legal tender, but the Bank of England will likely not wait long to begin effecting the change. There are some four-and-a-half billion pound notes in circulation, adding up to about $93 billion. These will have to be replaced, a process likely to be carried out over several years. During the short reign of King Edward VIII, new coins with his likeness were struck, but the monarch abdicated the throne before they could be put into circulation. New Royal Mail postage stamps will also bear the king’s image or profile, but according to British media reports the cypher of Queen Elizabeth, ER, that now adorns Royal Mail post boxes will remain. The Guardian reported that some post boxes still bear the cypher GR, that of King George VI, who preceded Elizabeth II on the throne. The ER cypher also appears on police helmets; those may start to be modified in consideration of the new monarch. The royal cypher EIIR that is emblazoned on flags that fly on official buildings and sometimes on vessels of the Royal Navy is likely to change.Additional changes to come will see wording on the interior cover of British passports, which are issued in the name of the Crown, modified to reflect the monarchical pivot. Text will also change inside Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand passports. When glasses are raised in official meetings, the appropriate toast will henceforth reference “the king” rather than “the queen.”Yet more changes are afoot. Britain’s national hymn will become “God Save the King,” with masculinized version of the words to “God Save the Queen,” which Britons have sung since 1952.The names of Her Majesty’s Government (“Her Majesty”), Treasury and Customs will change to those of “His Majesty.” Also, from now on it will be the King’s Speech and not the Queen’s Speech that will be delivered to the British parliament for the opening parliamentary session. The Queen’s Guard in front of Buckingham Palace will become the King’s Guard.From today, the British police will preserve the peace of the king, not the queen, and palace lawyers will shift from designation as QC, or queen’s counsel, to that of KC, for king’s counsel.” In the army, new recruits will no longer symbolically “take the queen’s shilling” when enlisting, but will “take the king’s shilling.” At least one change is coming to the London theater world, too: Her Majesty’s Theatre in the West End theater district, where “The Phantom of the Opera” has been performed since 1986, will soon be called His Majesty’s Theatre.

With Accession of King Charles III, Look of British Currency Set To Change

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