With letterboxes, the situation is somewhat different. There are 115,000 of them in the UK and most bear the Queen’s figure, although some still bear the figures of previous monarchs, including Victoria. Several hundred new mailboxes are installed each year, Gold says, and only new ones will introduce the iconography of Charles III.
Existing British coins and banknotes will also remain valid, although they will be replaced as new ones come into circulation in the coming months and years. A team of designers will first present a portrait of Charles III in profile to the king. Its head will point to the left, following the tradition of successive monarchs looking at coins in alternate directions. The king will look at and probably approve this design for use there and then. It is then adopted by the Royal Mint and printed on the reverse of each new coin. Separately, the Bank of England will print banknotes depicting the king.
One design change that could happen quite soon involves the uniforms worn by military regiments associated with the Royal House, such as those in the Household Cavalry.
“Every button you wear has the royal number on it,” recalls Richard Negus, a former member of the Household Cavalry who is now a hedge guard and conservationist. Other items of uniform and paraphernalia such as swords also bear the figure. Negus says he’d expect this to be updated pretty soon: “Otherwise, it’s pretty bad form — you’re essentially wearing an outdated uniform.” WIRED understands that design decisions affecting the crowns displayed on military cap badges and buttons are a matter for the new king himself.
Similarly, some police forces use the Queen’s figure on their uniforms. The traditional domed custodian helmet – or “bobby’s helmet” – used by the Metropolitan Police in London and some other troops has the figure rather prominently, for example in the center of a silver-colored decal called the Brunswick star.
Police uniform suppliers contacted by WIRED did not respond to requests for comment about possible uniform changes to reflect the new monarch. “It’s something we think the armed forces will look to into the future after the period of national mourning is over, probably in talks with the cabinet,” said a spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
“EIIR” as a symbol has become deeply familiar along with portraits of the queen such as the famous portrait of Arnold Machin used on postage stamps, says Pauline Maclaren of Royal Holloway, University of London. “It will be so strange that it will fade into the background,” she adds.
But these things fade, if not completely. This has been happening for decades as several nations have modernized and moved away from the trappings of the British Empire. The image of the Queen was once more prominent than it is today, especially in certain Commonwealth countries.
“At some point you would have seen a portrait of the Queen in every… [Australian] classroom – that’s long gone,” says Cindy McCreery, senior lecturer in the history department at the University of Sydney.
