“With the Queen’s exceptionally long reign, few have experienced regime change. It is difficult to quantify the effect that changing a monarch’s portrait will have on the nation,” said Dominic Chorney, council member of the British Numismatic Society. (Numismatics is the study or collection of coins.)
Here are some basic elements of daily British life that will need to change with the new monarch, including postage stamps and the national anthem.
Britain’s Royal Mint, which bills itself as the “world’s largest and most technically advanced integrated minting facility”, was due to issue a new coin with Prince Charles’s ascension to the throne.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey offered his condolences on Thursday and reassured the public in a statement that “current notes bearing the likeness of Her Majesty The Queen will continue to be legal tender.”
Elizabeth was the first monarch to appear on Bank of England banknotes and her image was updated five times as she aged. His “iconic portraits are synonymous with some of the most important work we do,” the bank said in a statement. The bank said it would offer more future currency updates once a mourning period of at least 10 days has been observed.
“In the past, coins of various monarchs circulated for decades, even centuries after their death,” said Chorney, an expert on ancient coins. “Approving new parts takes time,” he added. The designs are authorized by a committee of the Royal Mint, which was once chaired by Prince Philip, Elizabeth’s husband.
Coin collectors shouldn’t expect modern circulating coinage to increase much in value, but commemorative sets “may be desirable,” said Chorney, a specialist at AH Baldwin & Sons, a coin dealer. London dating from 1872.
During Elizabeth’s reign, her profile was turned to the right. Charles’s profile, as the new monarch, will likely turn to the left, following a tradition that dates back to the 1600s of alternating leadership between the coinage of successive monarchs. There has been only one exception to this oddity in British history. Edward VIII, who, after acceding to the throne in 1936 – and before abdicating the same year – insisted that coins bearing his likeness face left. John Richardson, professor emeritus at Britain’s Open University, said it was unclear whether Edward’s insistence was “an expression of rebellion against convention, or vanity, to show what ‘he considered his best profile, containing his parting of hair’.
“God protect our gracious queen!” Long live our noble Queen! God Save the Queen!”
The lyrics, roared by participants at official events, sporting matches and parties, date from the 17th century but were adopted as the British national anthem in the early 19th century. The author or authors of the lyrics and melody are unknown, according to Buckingham Palace.
While the song has been synonymous with Elizabeth for seven decades, the word ‘queen’ will be replaced with ‘king’ for Charles – as it was in the years before Elizabeth’s coronation.
“God Save the King” was first performed in public in London in 1745 and was commonly heard in playhouses and to greet the entry of monarchs. But the version referring to a king has not been used since 1952, when the Queen’s father, George VI, died. A number of Commonwealth countries and territories also use the song.
Newly installed British Prime Minister Liz Truss addressed the nation on Thursday and urged the public to support Charles as they had his mother, ending her speech: “God save the King”.
Across the UK, there are more than 115,000 public letterboxes, according to the Royal Mail, which began in 1516. The postal network at first operated only for the king and his court, but in 1635 it was opened to the public under Charles Moi who set up a letter office in London to transport mail across the country.
There are hundreds of bright red pillar boxes, cylindrical or hexagonal, which have become a symbol of Elizabethan Britain. More than 98% of the UK population live within half a mile of a letterbox, according to the Royal Mail.
Every mailbox on the roadsides of the country bears the badge or cipher of the reigning monarch at the time it was erected. Many bear the letters “E” (for Elizabeth II) and “R” (for “regina”, which means “queen” in Latin). This will likely be updated once Charles takes the throne of “KR”, although fewer new mailboxes will be placed as communication moves online and private delivery companies expand.
“We join people across the UK and around the world in mourning the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” the Royal Mail said. said Thursday. “We send our deepest condolences to Her Majesty and all members of the Royal Family.”
The world’s first adhesive postage stamp, known as the Penny Black, was launched in England in 1840, according to the Royal Mail. It had an image of Queen Victoria’s face and led to the introduction of the “penny post”, making letters cheap and easy for the majority of the population, who were sending over a billion a year by 1875.
In 1966 Elizabeth approved an image of her designed by Arnold Machin for use on postage stamps, and it has since appeared on more than 220 billion and in more than 130 different colours, according to the Royal Mail. She also featured on many stamps created to mark special royal occasions and anniversaries. In 2004, the Royal Mail launched Britain’s first digital stamp, which also features her profile.
The Royal Mail said on Friday that unused stamps will remain valid for use until at least the end of 2023. “We will make further announcements at the appropriate time following consultation with Buckingham Palace,” it added. “For now, we remember the Queen’s lifetime of dedication to public service.”
