Elizabeth II looked to the right and Carlos III is going to look to the left. But not because he is a supporter of Podemos and other parties with a similar tendency (God forbid), but because in the United Kingdom it is a tradition that, after the death of a monarch, the face of the one who follows him appears in the opposite direction on banknotes. and coins, unless expressly requested otherwise, as Edward VIII did before falling in love with Wallis Simpson and abdicating (even that was rare).
The death of Isabel, apart from its symbolic importance and the impact on the popularity of the monarchy, carries with it an immense and costly bureaucracy, that of her face progressively disappearing from legal tender money and postage stamps, her initials from the mailboxes, its insignia from fire stations, its image from military medals, and its emblem from police helmets, army uniforms, and passports. The flags of the police stations will also have to be replaced.
And that only in this country, because Elizabeth II also puts a face on the coins and bills of 35 other Commonwealth countries (no other character on the planet has such a presence), from Cyprus to New Zealand, from Canada to Bahama, Jamaica or Fiji. . The Australian Government, which is preparing to issue a new five-dollar bill (and whose Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is a Republican), has announced that it will not put Charles's image on it because the recently deceased queen enjoyed that privilege in a personal capacity and not as head of state.
In the United Kingdom there are almost 5,000 million banknotes in circulation (worth 100,000 million euros) and 30,000 million coins, with five different portraits of Elizabeth; 220,000 million stamps with her face have been printed over the years; and of the 115,000 mailboxes spread across the country, more than half of them (70,000) bear her initials E.R. (Elizabeth Regina). The oldest, those of Queen Victoria (V.R.), and George VI (G.R.).
Isabel took eight years to appear on her first banknote, and, although times have changed and everything happens much faster, it is likely that Carlos III will have to wait more or less the same. The money currently in circulation – confirmed the director of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey – will continue to serve the same as before. The transition will be faster with coins, because the Royal Mint (which is based in Llantrisant, thirty kilometers from Cardiff) produces about 3.3 billion a year. As it is a large-scale industrial production, the idea is to continue until December with the face of the queen and introduce the engraving with that of Carlos (looking to the left) only from 2023.
Elizabeth II was the first monarch to appear on Bank of England notes in 1960, and her image was updated five times as she aged (the last time in 2015). A side profile of her, wearing a crown and earrings, illustrates the one and two pound coins, the copper pennies, and the 20 and 50 pound paper money.
But not only the face that greets from money and postage stamps is going to change. The commercial firms that bear the coat of arms of the royal house (Heinz ketchup, jam and smoked salmon brands, Burberry and Barbour clothing manufacturers, Fortnum and Mason department stores...) will have to continue to arouse the interest of the new king to continue enjoying that privilege, which is earned when a company has provided a product or service to the royal house in five of the last seven years. The least risk is the pest control company Command Pest Control, given the huge number of rats that are in all the palaces, starting with Buckingham.
The whole move to replace the image of Elizabeth II will cost British taxpayers about 400 million euros, when the country has just entered a recession, energy prices are through the roof, inflation hovers around 10%...! and Carlos is not going to pay a pound in inheritance tax for inheriting! Monarchists or not, many British would find a better destination for that money.
