Britain’s King George VI died in his sleep in the early hours of February 6, 1952, when his eldest daughter, Princess Elizabeth, while on a shopping visit with her husband, instantly became Queen Elizabeth II. A similar process is already taking place simultaneously with the death of Queen Elizabeth and towards the coronation of King Charles III.
However, after the end of the Queen’s very long tenure, the process to remove the Queen’s representation from all walks of life in the United Kingdom and throughout the British Commonwealth, and replace it with the representation of Charles will be long and complex. These are some of the things that will change.
Banknotes and coins
There are no less than 4.5 billion pounds sterling notes with Queen Elizabeth’s face on them in current circulation, with a total value of 80 billion pounds sterling. Replacing all the bills with new ones that will be decorated in front of King Charles will be a process that will take at least two years. When the Bank of England replaced all 50 pound notes with synthetic notes, the process took 16 months.
A pound sterling note, the first to have the Queen’s face emblazoned on it / Photo: Reuters, PA
When Elizabeth was crowned in 1952, her face was not on the bills. It was only in 1960 that her face began to adorn the one pound note, designed by Robert Austin, and received quite a bit of criticism that the young queen’s look was too severe. The note was exchanged for coin on the Queen’s 57th birthday.
The Queen’s head appears on coins and banknotes in 33 member states of the British Commonwealth of Nations, including on the 20 dollar bills in Canada, coins in New Zealand and all the coins and banknotes printed by the Central Bank of the Eastern Caribbean.
Coin designs may very well change more slowly. Historically, it seems that it was customary to introduce the new coins into the cash circulation but not to recall the old coins, but to let them “disappear” organically.
Canadian $20 bill. When will Elizabeth be replaced by Charles? / Photo: Shutterstock, Labrynthe
flags
From the flags flown outside UK police stations to the standard flags displayed by destroyers when there is a general on board, thousands of flags bearing the late Queen’s “EIIR” representation will be replaced. Army regiments usually fly the “Queen’s Colors” and most of their flags bear the initials EIIR in gold. The British Fire Service emblem includes the initials of Elizabeth and in countries where the Queen is still considered head of state, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, there are flags The so-called “E Flags” – personal flags for the Queen flown when she visited.
A huge gold coin with the royal symbol “EIIR” representing Queen Elizabeth / Photo: Reuters, The Royal Mint
The royal standard – a special flag that is flown when a representative of the royal family is present – may also change.
The National Anthem of Great Britain, Oaths of Parliament and Prayers
One of the mentioned and most notable changes is of course the change of the words in the British national anthem from “God, we will defeat the queen” to “God, we will defeat the king”. Let’s recall that this is actually the original version of the anthem written in 1745 for King George.
The Queen held the title of “Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor” in the Church of England and her name is involved in many prayers, including those that praise her and wish for her continued health – all of which will now be changed to refer to King Charles. This will be done by special religious legislation and by then the priests of the Church of England are already making the actual changes in all the prayers that have been said since the Queen’s death.
Even in the British Parliament they will have to get used to swearing an oath to King Charles III instead of serving the late Queen.
Mail boxes and stamps
UK post boxes are stamped with Elizabeth’s royal seal “ER” and are unlikely to be removed. There are still boxes in the kingdom that were signed by King George IV 70 years after the end of his reign. However, the Royal Mail is expected to replace its stamps with new ones featuring the profile of King Charles III.