DURING her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II was a constant figure in our lives.
But now it’s all change, and her image and name will slowly be phased out of public life in everything from loose change to passports.
Coins and cash
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There are about 4.5 billion Bank of England notes worth about £80bn in circulation, plus about 29 billion coins – so it’s going to take a while for King Charles’ head to appear on our cash. But when he does start featuring on our coins he will be facing in the opposite direction as Queen Elizabeth II currently does. It is a tradition from the 17th century to alternate the way successive monarchs are facing. New coins and notes will need to be designed and minted or printed, but are not likely to appear in general circulation for some time. The Royal Mint advisory committee needs to send recommendations for new coins to the Chancellor and obtain royal approval. Designs are then chosen and the final choices approved by the Chancellor and then the King. The Queen’s coins did not appear until 1953 – the year after her accession. And before all British coins were updated for decimalisation in 1971, it was quite normal to find multiple monarchs on your change.
Stamps
Royal Mail will now stop producing stamps featuring Queen Elizabeth II, although they will still be sold for some time and can still be used on letters and parcels. It is likely that King Charles has already sat for portraits or sculptures which will eventually be used – but he will have to approve the final design. For her first stamps as monarch, the Queen was photographed by Dorothy Wilding three weeks after acceding to the throne and again around two months later, finally approving the image in May 1952. The portrait from 1952 was replaced in 1967 by the famous sculptured head by Arnold Machin, accompanied by the tiny cameo silhouette of the Queen.
Post boxes
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Royal Mail postboxes bearing Queen Elizabeth II’s royal cypher, ER, are unlikely to be removed, mainly because of the huge cost involved. Some with King George VI’s GR cypher remain in use today, 70 years on. At the start of the Queen’s reign in 1952, there were objections in Scotland to her being styled Elizabeth II because the Tudor queen Elizabeth I was never actually a queen of Scotland.
Passports
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The former Prince of Wales no longer needs his own passport, but for the rest of us, passports will be issued in his name. Her Majesty’s Passport Office will become His Majesty’s Passport Office, as is the case with HM Armed Forces and HM Prison Service.
Flags
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Charles will need a new personal flag as King. In 1960, the Queen adopted a personal flag – a gold E with the royal crown surrounded by a chaplet of roses on a blue background – to be flown on any building, ship, car or aircraft in which she was staying or travelling. It was often used when she visited Commonwealth countries. While the Royal Standard represents the Sovereign and the United Kingdom, the Queen’s own flag was personal to her alone and could be flown by no-one other than the Queen.
QCs to KCs
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It’s all change in the courts too. Senior barristers who have been appointed QCs (Queen’s counsel) will now be KC’s (King’s Counsel).
