The first banknotes bearing the image of the new King Charles III will enter circulation in mid-2024 in Britain, but the portrait will be unveiled as soon as the end of this year, the Bank of England announced on Tuesday. The monarch’s portrait “will appear on the existing models of the four polymer notes” of £5, £10, £20 and £50, “and no further changes” will be made, according to a statement issued a week after Elizabeth II’s funeral.
In addition, banknotes bearing the image of Elizabeth II will continue to circulate in parallel and will only be withdrawn when damaged to “minimize the environmental and economic consequences of the change of monarch”, in accordance with the directives of the Royal Household, specifies the monetary Institute.
The new royal monogram revealed
Existing stocks of notes, featuring the late state, will be put into circulation as planned, while the new polymer currency – which has gradually replaced paper money in the UK since 2016 – will only be printed to take its place.” used banknotes and to meet any overall increase in demand”.
Buckingham Palace also unveiled the new royal monogram – Charles III’s initials – on Monday night, which will notably be displayed on government buildings and post boxes and stamped on official documents. Under Elizabeth II, the monogram was “EIIR”, for Elizabeth II Regina (Queen in Latin). The royal monogram will be “CIIIR” for Charles III Rex (King in Latin). In images of the monogram published by Buckingham, the C and R are intertwined and a crown hovers over the initials.
Couriers leaving Buckingham Palace will be flanked by the new “CIIIR” from Tuesday, the date marking the end of royal mourning for the Queen, who died on September 8 aged 96. Buckingham Post Office sees around 2,000 parcels and letters pass each year between invitations, replies to letters or cards and official letters.
After the national anthem, now sung in its male version, “God Save The King”, many aspects of daily life in the United Kingdom will change with Charles III’s accession to the throne.
>> READ: Stamps, passports, anthem: what will change with Charles III
The face of the new king will thus begin to appear on currencies across the Channel, but also in other countries of the world, or even on British stamps. The names of ‘Her Majesty’s’ Government, the Treasury and Customs have already been changed to ‘His Majesty’.