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The Markets
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Financial Services

Currency, stamps and post-boxes, but what else will change after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II?

The Queen's name and face featured on almost everything for 70 years

As head of state since 1952, the likeness of Queen Elizabeth II has featured on postage stamps, money and passports for over 70 years.

However, with her eldest son now King Charles III, all that must change for the first time in most people's lives.

Here is a quick rundown on some of the things we can expect to see altered over the coming months.

Currency

The obvious one is currency.

The Queen was the first monarch to feature on Bank of England banknotes and currently there are nearly 29bn coins and 4.5bn notes featuring the Queen’s portrait (she does not feature in Scottish and Northern Irish notes).

Phasing those out and replacing them with images depicting the new King is likely take years, with The Royal Mint yet to announce how and when it will be issuing the new legal tender.

It won’t be the first time Charles has featured on a coin, as his picture was used for one issued on his 70 birthday in 2018.

According to tradition, the direction that a monarch’s face on coins must alternate each time, so King Charles will be facing to the left.

All current notes and coins will featuring the image of the Queen "will continue to be legal tender," the Bank of England said following the Queen's death.

"A further announcement regarding existing Bank of England banknotes will be made once the period of mourning has been observed."

Royal Mail

As with currency, stamps have featured the Queen’s silhouette for as long as she has been head of the Royal Family.

Royal Mail PLC (LSE:RMG) said it will stop producing new Queen Elizabeth II stamps, although they will still be valid on letters and parcels and start creating new ones.

New stamps not featuring her likeness, which were approved by the Queen in the months before her death, are still due to be released in coming months.

Aside from stamps, most Royal Mail post boxes have, since their introduction in 1852, carried the insignia, or cypher, of the reigning monarch.

The Queen’s royal cypher, EIIR, E for Elizabeth and R for regina, which means Queen, and features at more than 60% of the UK’s 115,000 post boxes.

"In line with past practice, following the death of a monarch all existing post boxes will remain unchanged. Post boxes already in production or being prepared for installation, will also retain the insignia of Queen Elizabeth II," Royal Mail said.

Further announcements on stamps will be made after the funeral, it added, after consultation with Buckingham Palace.

Cyphers and legal titles

On the topic of cyphers, it is likely they will need to be updated anywhere they currently appear.

That includes some gates for parks and grounds and police helmets and uniforms and of course most letterboxes.

Senior trial lawyers or barristers will also change to King’s Counsel from Queen’s Counsel (QC).

Anthem

England footballers at the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar will have to make a minor adjustment to the national anthem before a ball is kicked in any of their games.

‘God Save the Queen’ will be amended to ‘God Save the King,’ and will stay like that for a while unless anything drastic changes, considering the next in line after Charles is his son, William, and then his son, George.

Passports

British passports are issued in the name of Her Majesty, and holiday goers don’t have to worry about scrambling to get an updated one.

Current passports will remain valid for travel up until the expiration date, at which point the new passport will be changed to His Majesty.

Royal seal of approval

Products sold in the UK often come with the ‘Royal seal of approval.’

From ketchup to cereal, products are seen with the Royal Arms alongside the words “By appointment to her Majesty the Queen.”

These products have been granted a Royal Warrant, meaning the company that make them also supplies their goods to Royal Households on a regular basis.

The monarch, their consort and heir have the power to issue Royal Warrants, and there are currently 900 held by 800 companies, from makers of bedding, horse feed and fire detectors to art dealers, sign-writers, glazers and builders.

Those able to grant warrants, known as grantors, have the warrants they issued voided upon death, with the company they were issued to having to stop using them within two years.

Warrants issued by Charles will remain valid, and there is an expectation Prince William will be granted the power to issue his own.

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