King Charles ascended the throne after Queen Elizabeth’s death on September 8, 2022. Unlike his mother, King Charles had a small gap between his ascension and his coronation, indeed his crowning took place on May 6, 2023.
Discover our latest podcast
Since Charles became King, he has slowly been making his mark on the country. As monarch, Charles’ royal cypher has slowly been replacing Queen Elizabeth’s royal cypher. King Charles chose the rounded Tudor Crown for his cypher, whereas Queen Elizabeth had chosen St Edward’s Crown.
Now that it has been over a year since King Charles’ ascension, the British government are finally making the changes needed to mark the new monarch’s reign. Here are the changes to expect.
The British government is making changes
As reported by Express, The British government has been switching out Queen Elizabeth’s royal cypher with King Charles’ on key government websites. This change is solidifying King Charles’ role as Head of State.
King Charles’ royal cypher will also be added to several other things besides government websites. It will be added to coins, stamps, passports and postboxes, replacing his mother’s symbol. According to Express, the changes will be complete by March 1.
Speaking about the new changes, Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister said:
Following the accession of His Majesty The King, we are updating the symbols of state to reflect the new design of the Tudor Crown.
Dowden added that the Government is proud of the changes and ‘honouring’ King Charles:
The digital realm is now an integral part of our lives, and as His Majesty’s Government, we take pride in this change to gov.uk today, honouring the chosen crown of our King.
King Charles will soon appear on banknotes
Not only is the Government making changes to websites and buildings, but the new banknotes featuring the new monarch will soon be introduced to the public. As per Express, the new banknotes featuring King Charles’ portrait will begin circulation on June 5.
The Bank of England explained that old banknotes featuring Queen Elizabeth’s portrait will remain legal tender and will be circulating alongside the King Charles banknotes. The new banknotes will virtually remain the same, except, instead of having Queen Elizabeth’s portrait on one side, it’ll be King Charles’.
This means that Jane Austen will still feature on the £10 notes, artist JMW Turner will still be on £20 notes and computer scientist Alan Turing will remain on £50 banknotes.
The Bank of England also added that the new banknotes will only be printed to replace worn-out ones or if there is a surplus demand for banknotes.
The new banknotes will only be printed to replace those that are worn and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes.
The goal is to gradually introduce the King Charles banknotes ‘to minimise the environmental and financial impact of this change’, as per Express.
Read more:
⋙ King Charles: The monarch made this promise to Prince William according to a royal expert
⋙ King Charles makes new change to the Royal menu for a more sustainable future
Sources used:
Express: ‘King Charles secretly makes major change to Government websites’
Express: ‘King Charles will feature on British banknotes from this date, Bank of England announces’
