With the
death of Queen Elizabeth II, the United Kingdom’s national anthem has now
changed from “God Save the Queen” to “God Save the King.” The change happened
as the Queen’s death was reported Thursday and Prince Charles unofficially
became King Charles III. The official ceremony will be undertaken later.

Queen
Elizabeth died following an illness on September 8. Monarch of the United
Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth nations, Queen Elizabeth II ruled for 70
years, the longest ever for UK and the second-longest ever across the world.

Change
in British currency

The death
of the Queen, and the ascension of a new monarch, will also mean that King
Charles III’s effigy will now start appearing in British currency coins and
banknotes. But it’s not just British currency that will undergo that change.
The alteration will also feature in the East Caribbean dollar coins, and
currencies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Currently,
there are 4.5 billion sterling bank notes with the Queen’s face, according to a
Guardian report. Replacing them with alternatives is likely to take at least
two years.

When Queen
Elizabeth II ascended the throne in 1952, her name did not feature in
banknotes. This changed in 1960, when the Queen’s face finally began to feature.

The
Buckingham Palace will come up with a portrait of King Charles III which will
be then used in the banknotes. British passports will also have to undergo a
rehaul because they are issued in the name of the crown.

The
national anthem

Britain’s
national anthem was titled God Save the King when it was written in 1975. The
composition was in honour of King George III. It was in the early 1800s when
the song became England’s national anthem. Since then, every time there has
been a change in the monarchy, the national anthem has changed from King to
Queen depending on the monarch’s sex.

Prince
Charles, now King Charles III, in whose honour UK will now change its national
anthem, issued a statement after his mother’s passing, saying: “We mourn
profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know
her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the realms and the
Commonwealth, and by countless other people around the world.”