Ever since the death of the queen of England, things have been changing in the entire boundary of the United Kingdom. Several rules are being changed and these changes are apparently supported by the common people. It has been a new dawn for the people of England who came across the death of their beloved queen and the appointment of a new Prime Minister.
The Bank of England has been one of the first units to have brought forward these changes. They unveiled a design of the banknotes which have featured King Charles III. There have been some other statements that have come with these changes as well. The statements include the fact that all polymer banknotes including 5, 10, 20, and 50-pound notes will have the portrait of King Charles III and there will be no other changes to the existing design of the notes.
Circulation Begin Mid-2024
The Bank of England has informed that the image of the King will appear on the front page of the banknotes. This will also be accompanied by a cameo in the see-through security window. All of these are introduced in order to celebrate the reign of King Charles III.
The bank has also informed us that these new notes will be entering into the circulation of monetary transactions in the middle part of 2024. The banknotes containing the portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II will also remain as legal tender. The public may continue to use the old notes as they will not go out of circulation under any circumstances.
Going Eco-Friendly
The Bank of England has also mentioned that the entire span of United Kingdom is trying to go as eco-friendly as possible. Hence, the new notes printed will be strictly through the mode of replacing notes that are torn or cannot be used anymore. The worn-out notes will be replaced by the new ones containing the portrait of King Charles III.
Therefore with time, we can see that the notes which contain the image of the late queen and the ones which contain the image of the present king will co-circulate. This will help to increase the overall demand which exists for banknotes.
Statement Of Andre Bailey – The Governor of The Bank of England
Even before the notes have been released, the governor of the Bank of England made a statement. Andrew Bailey has mentioned that the bank is very proud to release new notes which will contain the portrait of King Charles III. This is one of the most significant moments in the history of England because King Charles III will be only the second person who has featured on the notes of England. The common people will be able to use the new notes from 2024 as these start to enter into circulation as a replacement for older notes that might be torn or worn out. King Charles III will be the second monarch to be appearing on the notes of England.
Queen Elizabeth was the first and only monarch of England who had the opportunity to appear on the notes printed and circulated by the Bank of England. This started in 1960. The notes that are used and circulated by the Scottish and Northern Irish Banks do not depict the monarch in any way, although they are parts of the United Kingdom.
Present Notes In Circulation
About 4.5 billion notes of the Bank of England are presently in circulation which amounts to almost 80 billion pounds. These contain the portrait of Queen Elizabeth and are still in use. On the other hand, the 50 pence coins which are bearing the image of King Charles III are already in circulation and they have been dispensed in post offices all across the country.
4.9 million new coins will soon be entering into circulation through the interference of post offices. The half number of these coins will be given in change to the customers. This will slowly infiltrate into the current notes and coins and finally, the ones which contain the image of King Charles III will remain mostly in circulation. The customers will use them in the majority whereas the notes which have the image of Queen Elizabeth will become a novelty.
Controversies Of The Royal Family
The idea of changing the image on the notes came to be thought of as revolutionary. The monarchy of England is quite conservative and they like to keep their old ways in fashion. This has not changed for a long time, even for the people of the family. Despite this, when the Bank of England decided to bring the change, there were no protests from the royal family.
It is expected that the change is quite well accepted among the royal family as well. Presently King Charles III and his wife, Queen consort Camilla, will be taking all the decisions of the royal family. It seems that the always controversial household of England is finally able to come to a single decision that is not challenged by any.
Few Final Words
There had been several controversies that arrested the attention of the common people after the death of the Queen. The old question about Duchess Diana and the recent estrangement of Prince Harry and his wife, Megan, had also been in the limelight. It is indeed good for the common people of England to see that the new notes will speak of the new reign of King Charles III and the ideas that might change the present scenario of the United Kingdom.
The Bank of England had been quite revolutionary in proposing this idea. It is expected that both types of notes will coexist in harmony. If not, England should be prepared to take out at least one of the notes from circulation so that there is no kind of confusion.