King Charles III’s royal cypher has been unveiled following the end of the mourning period for his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Designed by the College of Arms, which was founded in 1484, the new cypher features the letter ‘C’ for Charles intertwined with ‘R’ for Rex, which is Latin for King, with ‘III’, for King Charles III, with a crown above the letters.
Image: Buckingham Palace/PA
Cyphers feature on anything from post boxes to police helmets, meaning the new monogram will replace Queen's ‘EIIR’ over the coming months and years, although Buckingham Palace said the previous design can remain in some instances.
Alongside the need to change the monogram, the Bank of England (BoE) said it will release images of updated banknotes later this year, before entering circulation by mid-2024.
BoE said His Majesty’s portrait will appear on existing designs of polymer banknotes.
Notes which feature the Queen’s image will continue to be legal tender and will remain in circulation alongside the new notes.
This is due to guidance from the Royal Household to “minimise the environmental and financial impact of the change of monarch,” with notes featuring the Queen continued to be issued into circulation.
The Queen’s passing meant a huge job was on hand to replace everything with the Queen’s stamp to the Kings.
Here is a rundown of a few other changes to expect in the early years of the King’s reign.
Stamps
As with currency, stamps have featured the Queen’s silhouette for as long as she has been head of the Royal Family.
Royal Mail 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 the coming months.
Aside from the new stamps, Royal Mail said it will be releasing four commemorative stamps which feature the Queen’s image during different points of her reign.
Available from 10 November, they will be price from £1.85 and are the first stamps to be approved the King Charles.
Anthem
An obvious change is of course the words to the national anthem. At the first major sporting event since the Queen’s death, England fans and footballers will sing ‘God Save the King’ at the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar
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 makes 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.