The Major Change That Needs To Be Made All Over Britain Now That Charles Is King
The death of Queen Elizabeth II and the ascension of her son, King Charles III, may be one that has shocked and saddened the world, but nowhere will her absence be felt more keenly than in Great Britain. Every part of life, from paper currency to coins, and from stamps to post boxes, all bear her hallmark that reads "E II R" or Elizabeth Regina, and has been so for the last seven decades, per NBC News.
And now that the United Kingdom's Accession Council has named the former Prince of Wales as king, people may be guessing that it won't be long before signs of the Elizabethan Age are swept away. But as iNews points out, some things will be changed more quickly than others.
Within the British justice system, lawyers who were once known as queen's counsel are known with immediate effect as king's counsel, although case names will continue to be known as "regina" or "queen" instead of "rex," for "king." The national anthem, "God Save The Queen," has been changed to "God Save the King." All government services will also now be required to say "His Majesty's" instead of "Her Majesty's," and so on, per iNews.
The Queen's cypher will gradually be discontinued
The one change that most Britons might not be looking forward to is one that will see the change of cypher from "E II R" to "CR" that King Charles III will eventually adopt. The monogram, which appeared to decorate his black necktie, stands for "Charles Rex," per Metro.
But Queen Elizabeth II's stamps, postboxes, and currency aren't expected to be swapped out right away. The Bank of England, which is the United Kingdom's central bank, says it will continue to recognize both paper bills and coins with the queen's image on them as legal tender, with a gradual switch to be announced after the mourning period is over, per Fortune. All stamps can also still be used, and Royal Mail says an announcement for when King Charles III's image is to be used will also come at a later date. Fortune says the iconic post boxes aren't expected to change either — the ones that are being used now won't be taken down, and the ones that are being made aren't going to have the new cypher yet either. This partially explains why even now, post boxes with the cypher of Queen Elizabeth's father and King Charles' grandfather George VI are still in use today.
As the Royal Mail said, "For now, we remember the queen's lifetime of dedication to public service."