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| Queen Elizabeth II’s image is ubiquitous. Her face is on British money — the blue five-pound notes, the bronze one-pound coin. It’s on post boxes and stamps. The royal coat of arms is on condiment jars and jackets. Since her death this month, Queen Elizabeth’s face has been all over nonstop news coverage. But before long, the visage of King Charles III will replace his mother’s in official and unofficial capacities. |
| A lot will be changing. But there is a silver lining of sorts for this royal makeover. |
| “The cost of the monarchy, which is significant, comes with the ongoing costs which ought to be reined in and haven’t been reined in,” said Norman Baker, a former government minister and the author of the book “ … And What Do You Do? What the Royal Family Don’t Want You to Know.” |
| In other words, everything is already so expensive that replacing one royal with another isn’t a major investment. |
| STAMPS |
| A stamp costs 95 pence in 2022 |
| 220 billion copies of this stamp design have been produced |
| The Royal Mail Group has not yet announced the plan for King Charles stamps, but, of course, stamps with Queen Elizabeth’s image are still valid. One change that has nothing to do with their royal highnesses: The Royal Mail is in the process of adding bar codes to stamps, a move it said would enhance security and allow people to access videos through the Royal Mail app. Stamps without the bar codes — which happen to feature the queen — will be valid only until early next year. |
| “All of a sudden, I suppose, just the everyday stamp has become a collector’s item, and that’s quite interesting,” said Laura Clancy, a lecturer in media at Lancaster University. “It changes the meaning of the object, right? From an everyday object to something that is more special.” |
| POST BOXES |
| There are 115,000 post boxes throughout Britain |
| Approximately 70,000 have Queen Elizabeth’s initials on them |
| It is not uncommon to come across mailboxes adorned with the insignia of monarchs who served long before Queen Elizabeth. There are around 115,500 mailboxes throughout Britain and 61.4 percent of those, which date to the reign of Queen Victoria, bear Queen Elizabeth’s royal cypher, according to the Royal Mail Group. All mailboxes and those already in production with Queen Elizabeth’s initials will remain intact, the service’s website says. |
| When a new mailbox is created, however, it will bear the insignia of King Charles, according to Mr. Baker, who pointed out that the country sends less mail than it used to. King Charles’s insignia will eventually adorn the nation’s post boxes. There just won’t be as many of them. |
| “The cost of a post box is not related to whether it’s a change of monarchy or not,” Mr. Baker said. “The cost of Charles being on there rather than the Queen is minimal. I mean, it’s nothing.” |
| BANK NOTES |
| Over 4.7 billion bank notes are in circulation |
| They are worth 82 billion pounds |
| There are over 4.7 billion Bank of England currency notes in circulation worth around 82 billion pounds. Queen Elizabeth was the first monarch to appear on Bank of England bank notes in 1960 — so there is no precedent for what will happen during a turnover in the monarchy. |
| The cost of creating new molds to accommodate King Charles would be “relatively negligible,” said Mauro F. Guillén, the dean at Cambridge Judge Business School, who estimated that phasing out the currency with Queen Elizabeth will be a two- to four-year process. |
| King Charles’ ascension is occurring as the Bank of England continues to replace paper bank notes with polymer ones to prevent fraud and reduce the transmission of germs. In 2016, the bank introduced a five-pound polymer note that featured Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill, the former prime minister. |
| One other factor in the timing of King Charles currency, according to Mr. Baker: The king gets to approve the image. |
| COINS |
| 29 billion coins are in circulation |
| 5 different portraits of Elizabeth are on coins |
| There are 29 billion British coins in circulation with Queen Elizabeth’s visage and on all of them, she faces to the right. Since Charles II’s reign in the 17th century, new kings and queens have faced the opposite direction of their predecessors on coins, with the exception of Edward VIII, who preferred to face left. Unless the new king expresses a different preference, he will be facing left. |
| Mr. Guillén said the coins were more expensive to produce than bank notes because they were more durable. He was reluctant to put a figure on what production of the new coins might cost — estimating around $600 million — but noted that it would take multiple years to phase out older coins, and the total tab could fluctuate significantly. |
| CONDIMENTS |
| About 800 brands and individuals have royal warrants |
| Heinz has supplied the royal family with products since 1951 |
| Companies as different as Heinz and Burberry use Queen Elizabeth II’s coat of arms on ketchup bottles and coats, but that will change. To be eligible to use the royal arms, a business must have provided products and services to the royal family for at least five of the past seven years. More than 600 enterprises, including Barbour, Command Pest Control and Swarovski, currently have warrants granted by Queen Elizabeth II, according to the Royal Warrant Holders Association. |
| Now that Queen Elizabeth has died, companies like Heinz, which received warrants from her, have two years to continue to use the coat of arms. After that period is up, Heinz must update ketchup bottles that circulate in Britain, though it may not be a significant cost. |
| “We’re not talking about changing the ketchup,” Mr. Guillén said. “We’re talking about changing a very, very small, tiny part of the packaging.” |
| Other unofficial goods are seeing the market effect of the Queen’s death, too. Silk Road Bazaar, for example, makes felt ornaments it sells on Etsy and to wholesale clients, catering to Anglophiles. Its designs include Queen Elizabeth, an orange and white corgi, Big Ben, and now, King Charles and Camilla, queen consort. |
| In August, Silk Road Bazaar sold just three Queen Elizabeth ornaments on Etsy and one of then-Prince Charles, said Andrew Kuschner, the company’s founder. So far this month, however, it has sold 60 Queen Elizabeth ornaments and eight of King Charles. |
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