King Charles inspects new bank notes bearing his portrait, will expand public schedule
King Charles was presented with bank notes featuring his portrait as monarch as new details emerged about his future plans.
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Palace aides are revising the King Charles’s schedule to factor in more public engagements.
These will include meets and greets with slightly larger groups of people from the end of April as the monarch continues to recover from cancer.
Charles has told staff he is willing and able to take on more work after enjoying a return to public life when he conducted a successful walkabout in Windsor on Easter Sunday.
Insiders say he has been feeling well in himself and is “pushing” staff to let him get back to work.
Plans for a busier schedule came as the King welcomed the governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey and chief cashier Sarah John to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday where he was presented with the first bank notes of £5, £10, £20 and £50 featuring his portrait as monarch.
“He is itching to get back to work, the King knows his reign has been held back from illness and he hasn’t got much time as an older monarch to leave his stamp on his reign so he is telling staff to relook at his diary and start booking in work,” said royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.
“It is not a secret that the king is a workaholic and that he is happiest among his people, it’s something he takes great comfort from.
“He is keen to get on with things, he is not one to stay at home. He is expected to be seen a lot more in the coming weeks and back among the public but it will be a slow and steady process.”
Buckingham Palace has suggested the monarch is feeling stronger saying at this stage “nothing can be ruled in or out”.
Privately his doctors are hopeful that he can travel and take on more engagements in the coming weeks.
It is understood Charles and Queen Camilla are planning to attend the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy on June 8 and the Trooping the Colour on June 15 which celebrates his official birthday.
The King is also understood to have instructed his travel organisers to speed up plans for a two-week royal tour of Australia in October after putting on hold his first visit of the Commonwealth realm as sovereign when the Queen died in September 22 and when he discovered in February he had cancer.
His tour will take in New Zealand and Samoa when he travels to Samoa in October for the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
It is customary the year after a monarch is crowned for them to visit Australia.
A palace source said: “Any future plans would not be confirmed until nearer the time but the message at this time is it’s a day by day basis, nothing has been ruled in or out.”
“The Easter meet and greet went well and is viewed as a positive sign about his health and there is talk of meeting larger groups in the near future,” the source added.
It comes as in a startling show of modesty King Charles apologised to the Governor of the Bank of England that his ongoing cancer treatment had pushed back the presentation of historic banknotes featuring his portrait.
Receiving a leather-bound booklet containing the historic legal tender from Andrew Bailey at Buckingham Palace the King said, “Good morning Governor. I’m sorry it’s a bit delayed this. I hope it isn’t too delayed.”
Charles, who is just eighteen months into his reign, has been undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.
The polymer £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes, which bear the royal’s likeness and his signature, are the number 1 notes in the series and that the general public would start to see them in circulation in early June.
King Charles is only the second British monarch to appear on the Bank of England’s notes and it is the first time one sovereign’s image has been replaced with another.
Charles’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was the first British monarch to be given the honour in 1960 on a £1 paper note.
Presenting the monarch with a display folder of the banknotes Mr Bailey said, “This is quite a big moment because we’ve never changed the sovereign on the bank notes because the Queen was the first sovereign to be on the bank notes.’”
Charles expressed his surprise and inspected the notes, complimenting their design and intricate security details.
“They’re very well designed I must say,” added the royal.
The money will be issued gradually into circulation from June 5 – with Charles’s portrait featuring on the front of the banknotes, as well as in cameo in the transparent security window, visible on the front and back.
Existing notes featuring the portrait of the late Queen will continue to be legal tender, so the Elizabeth II and King Charles III notes will co-circulate.
GET TICKETS TO BUCKINGHAM PALACE, BALMORAL CASTLE
King Charles is allowing the general public to tour unseen parts of Buckingham Palace, in addition to a new tour of Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which are both popular stops for royal fans.
The East Wing of Buckingham Palace, where the King filmed his Christmas broadcast in December last year, will be toured for the first time this year.
The Royal Collection Trust announced that the iconic palace will open the wing via the Principal Floor following five years of restorative work.
The East Wing includes the front facade and iconic palace balcony, “where the monarch and members of the royal family have gathered for public appearances during special occasions or historic moments since 1851,” including royal weddings, coronations and Trooping the Colour.
East Wing Highlights Tours will be held daily in July and August starting July 15, and can be booked in addition to standard admission to the State Rooms at the palace.
The palace will be open seven days a week in July and August for the first time since 2019 before going back to five days a week in September.
Tickets will cost around A$145 for adults and A$113 for children under 18 and go on sale April 9 with limited availability that includes a maximum number of 20 places on each East Wing Highlights Tour.
It comes as King Charles is also allowing tours of the inside of Balmoral Castle which is the cherished, most private Scottish summer home where Queen Elizabeth II died.
According to The Sun this is the first time that tourists have been allowed into rooms used by the Royal Family at the Scottish castle that has been their holiday home for 170 years.
Sources have previously claimed the King wants to extend the opening of royal homes – including Buckingham Palace – as a way of generating income.
A visit to Balmoral Castle will cost Australians A$290 including afternoon tea.
Previously paying guests have only been allowed in Balmoral’s ballroom.
On April 2, Balmoral Castle issued a statement that announced guests “can see a selection of rooms within the Castle that are used by Their Majesties The King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family”.
The rooms are expected to include the Drawing Room where the late Queen made her last public appearance while alive.
However, the bedroom where the Queen died is expected to be off limits.
The royals spend August and September summer holidays at Balmoral although the King and Queen stay most days at their home nearby at Birkhall.
“Since its completion in 1855, access to the interior of Balmoral Castle has been restricted to the public, until now,” the estate announced.
“For the first time in history, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of interior castle private tours – The Balmoral Experience.
“Learn about Balmoral’s history and heritage, led by our experienced guides through several of the exquisite rooms within Balmoral Castle.
“Travel through time from the purchase of the Balmoral Estate by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, through to the present day, where you can see a selection of rooms within the Castle that are used by Their Majesties The King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family.”
Only 40 tickets will be issued each day and come at a hefty price costing £100 each and £150 if an afternoon tea is included.
The tour is described as an “adult only experience”.
Tickets are available from July 1 through August 4.
‘SIGNIFICANT STEP’: UPDATE ON KING CHARLES’ HEALTH
King Charles has made a “significant step” in his cancer treatment following his Easter Sunday appearance, a source has revealed.
His Majesty greeted around 60 wellwishers after leading a scaled-down Royal Family to a service at Windsor Castle in what a source told The Sun was “a significant step.”
“As can be seen, The King has responded to treatment very encouragingly over the past weeks and his doctors were thus able to adjust their guidance slightly on what His Majesty is now able to undertake, including attendance at the Easter Service and greeting wellwishers who had kindly turned out to show their support.”
The health update comes eight weeks after Buckingham Palace revealed the King, 75, was undergoing treatment for cancer.
The Palace had said the King would not undertake any official public engagements while he undergoes treatment.
Towards the end of February, Charles had an audience with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and in early March, held an in-person pre-Budget audience with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, a video call with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and over the course of the month welcomed foreign officials to Buckingham Palace, including high commissioners of Jamaica, Tanzania and Singapore.
Ahead of Easter, the King reaffirmed his coronation pledge “not to be served, but to serve” with “my whole heart” in an audio address broadcast to a congregation at Worcester Cathedral where the Royal Maundy Service was held in his absence on Thursday.
But because he has responded “very encouragingly” to treatment, doctors have “slightly” adjusted their guidance on what commitments Charles can undertake, it is said.
A source said: “To be clear, His Majesty’s treatment continues and caution is of course the watchword.”
The source revealed there will be “carefully-calibrated steps towards the resumption of some public facing duties for The King, with adjustments made where necessary.
“Nothing will be confirmed until nearer the time, plans remain in flux and are subject to medical guidance, but there is great hope and optimism from both doctors and the patient.”
BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT WEIGHS IN ON CHARLES’ EASTER SERVICE
The King was accompanied by Queen Camilla for the annual Easter Mattins Service.
Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh and James, Earl of Wessex, were also in attendance at St George’s Chapel.
The King’s disgraced younger brother Prince Andrew, 64, arrived by car with Princess Anne, 73, and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, 69.
He was joined by ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, 64, who herself has had breast cancer and skin cancer in the past nine months.
It was Fergie’s first appearance at Easter Mattins service since she divorced Andy 28 years ago.
King Charles is “in charge” and keen to let the world know he is well and healthy, says an Australian body language expert.
Dr Louise Mahler, a Sydney-based expert in body language and communication, observed the King and Queen Camilla arriving at the annual Easter Mattins Service at Windsor Castle on Sunday local time.
The occasion marked Charles’ return to public life since his cancer diagnosis in February.
“Charles looked buoyant as he stood up straight, reaching out his arm, smiling and waving.” said Dr Mahler.
“His message was clear, I am well, I am healthy, and I am here – it was a message well sent.”
“Camilla was more reserved, but still looked happy and even had a little bounce in her step, they had spent time apart recently in public and that bounce may relate to being pleased to be out with Charles by her side again.”
Dr Mahler said the royals understood that they needed to be seen, and from the cheers of the crowd those outside the cathedral the public clearly welcomed the site of a healthy and happy King and Queen.”
“While it was a brief view of Charles and Camilla as they entered the cathedral, as I have detailed in my new book Gravitas, even with a brief view, through understanding body language we can tell almost everything about a situation,” said Dr Mahler.
“From viewing Charles, it was clear this was an important event, an opportunity for Charles to send the message that despite the recent challenges the family has faced, he is there and in charge.”
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Originally published as King Charles inspects new bank notes bearing his portrait, will expand public schedule
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