King Charles III is continuing his royal duties as he undergoes cancer treatment. More than two months after Buckingham Palace announced that the British monarch, 75, was diagnosed with “a form of cancer” after undergoing a procedure to treat an enlarged prostate, new video showed Charles being presented with the first of the new banknotes baring his face.
On Tuesday, the King welcomed the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and Chief Cashier Sarah John to Buckingham Palace, where he received the first of the new £5, £10, £20 and £50 polymer banknotes featuring his portrait, an engraving inspired by a picture of him taken in 2013, according to the BBC. It is tradition for British sovereign to receive the first issues of the new banknotes, put into circulation following the coronation of a new monarch, and upon seeing the new tender, Charles quipped, “very elegant.”
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Per Buckingham Palace, this is the first time The Bank of England has changed the image of the monarch on a banknote. The late Queen Elizabeth was the first monarch to appear on a Bank of England note in 1960. Those banknotes will remain in use as the new banknotes enter circulation on June 5, the BBC reported. In December 2022, new fifty pence coins with Charles’s image entered circulation, and in March 2023, the first King Charles stamps were issued.
“I am very proud that the Bank is releasing the design of our new banknotes which will carry a portrait of King Charles III,” Governor Andrew Bailey said in a statement. “This is a significant moment, as The King is only the second monarch to feature on our banknotes.”
The Tuesday appearance marked one of only a handful of public engagements His Majesty has taken part in since his cancer diagnosis. Buckingham Palace first announced the king’s cancer diagnosis on Feb. 5, just days after he was admitted to a London hospital for treatment for an enlarged prostate on Jan. 26. Details about his type of cancer and subsequent treatment have not been disclosed at this time.
During a mini walkabout after attending a service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Easter Sunday, Charles told a well-wisher that he is “doing my best” amid his cancer battle.
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