With the end of the second Elizabethan era comes the beginning of the reign of King Charles, which will be known as the Carolingian era. As history changes, so do the everyday objects bearing the monarch’s portrait. The Queen’s likeness is depicted on stamps, coins and banknotes and her initials adorn post boxes, uniforms and government signs across the country. Changing all of this will be a huge and expensive task, likely to take several years, if not decades, and indeed, may never be completed. The Carolean era The new King will be known as King Charles III and his accession heralds a return to the Carolingian era, a term derived from the Latin for Charles, Charles. The first Carolingian era was under King Charles I, whose reign from 1625 to 1649 was marred by strife and controversy. They eventually led to deeply divisive civil wars and ultimately Charles’ execution for high treason in 1649. For the next 11 years, the country was a republic under Oliver Cromwell. The second Carolingian era arrived when Charles II was restored to his father’s throne. Known as the jovial monarch, he ruled from 1660 until his death in 1685, but had no legitimate children, so the crown passed to his brother. The third King Charles will be announced at the Council of Accession at 10am on Saturday. Voicing her support for the King, the prime minister heralded a “new Carolian era”. “All of us in this House will support him as he leads our country into a new era of hope and progress,” Liz Truss told the Commons on Friday. Royal cypher A royal cypher is unique to each reigning monarch and consists of his name and title. It is commonly seen on government buildings, uniforms, royal or state documents and items associated with the royal. Now that the Queen is dead, ER could be replaced with CR. The second letter may not change because the R may stand for Rex or Regina, Latin for King and Queen. However, the next royal cypher has not been confirmed yet. Post boxes Royal Mail PO boxes are marked ERII, which stands for Elizabeth Regina II. They could now change to CRIII. When post boxes are made, they are given the badge of the reigning monarch at the time, and with more than 100,000 estimated to be scattered across Britain, it could take a long time to replace them all. The Postal Museum notes that this will only happen when new PO boxes are added – old ones will not be changed. Money According to Coin Expert, a subsidiary of the Royal Mint, a new portrait of Charles will be released to be featured on the coin. Coins and banknotes bearing the Queen’s portrait will continue to be issued for the rest of the year or perhaps longer, after which the new portrait will be released. Coins and notes bearing the Queen will not be recalled. Instead, the process will be gradual and many coins bearing her portrait will remain in circulation for many years. Click to subscribe to Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts Banks and post offices will issue the newly designed coins and notes and collect the older issues. According to royal.uk, the official website of the Royal Family, from the time of Charles II onwards, a tradition developed of monarchs being represented on coins facing the opposite direction from their predecessor. The exception to this was in the short reign of Edward VIII. He liked portraits of himself facing left, even though, according to tradition, he should be facing right. Designs for proposed coins for his reign show Edward VIII facing left. The tradition was restored in the reign of George VI, with his portrait facing left as Edward VIII had faced right. Stamps As well as the post boxes, the Royal Mail will order new stamps featuring the King’s profile to replace that of his mother. When stamps were last changed with a monarch in 1952, a series called Wilding Issues was released. They featured portraits taken by Dorothy Wilding within weeks of King George’s death and were used until 1971. National Anthem With King Charles on the throne, the words to the national anthem will be changed to God Save The King. It will go like this: God save our kind King! Long live our noble King! God save the King! Send the victor, happy and glorious, Long to reign over us, God save the King. This version was last used when the Queen’s father George VI was on the throne. passports Passports currently state: “His Majesty’s Secretary of State requests and requires in His Majesty’s name all whom he may concern to permit the bearer to pass freely without permission or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as he may she is necessary .” It is expected that this will be changed to a male pronoun for any new passports. Any older passports that do not have the new phrase will not be affected and will not be forced to change until they are renewed. Like the currency, the new passports will be phased in over time. Queen’s Counsel The country’s leading barristers, formerly known as Queen’s Counsel, have become King’s Counsel. The Bar Council, which represents lawyers, said the change was immediate. Lawyers of this rank will now use the initials KC after their name, instead of QC.
