Are First-Class Carriages On Their Way Out?

Southeastern has become the latest commuter train operator to discard first-class carriages as the Department for Transport orders companies to cut costs due to low demand post-pandemic.

Whitehall officials approved a call to axe first class tickets and free up seats after rail bosses revealed only 28 annual season ticket holders paid the premium fare.

The nationalised southeast operator, which operates 1,500 services from Sussex to Kent, is the latest to ditch commuter first class tickets, following Greater Anglia, West Midlands, East Midlands, and the Stansted Express.

According to a newspaper outlet, with train travel demand still lower than pre-pandemic levels, the DfT welcomed the move as a spokesman said it would benefit commuters.

He said commuters repeatedly grumbled of having to stand and look at empty first-class seats from packed standard carriages, adding that Southeastern had taken measures to make commuters’ travel more comfortable and ease overcrowding.

First-class tickets have gradually begun to vanish from non-intercity routes across the country and Whitehall sources said the impact of the latest culling would be closely scrutinised.

Great Western Railways removed first class seats from most of its regional services in 2016, citing a shift in expenses policy due to economic circumstances and also converted about half of their long-distance first class carriages to provide additional space for its patrons.

A spokesman for Northern, the Liverpool to Newcastle operator, confirmed the line no longer had first-class ticket options, despite being intercity.

First-class tickets on commuter routes have almost dropped off altogether, with operators such as Thameslink and Transpennine among the last to offer the premium service.

As train travel demand is still below pre-lockdown levels, the train network continues to drain public funds, with £10 billion of taxpayer money spent during the pandemic to keep operators afloat and almost £17 billion spent on the rail industry in total during that time.

Despite the removal of the first class commuter experience, Government sources said there were no plans to enforce the axing of premium long-distance services.

So, now it seems that we’re all cattle class, but then, on the other hand, many of the first class carriages have remained empty for a long time, so it seems a waste of space to leave them totally empty while ordinary people have to stand all their journey due to there being no seats.

But then, on the other hand, some people have discovered that you don’t actually have to purchase a first-class ticket to sit in a first-class area, they will sit there anyhow, and on the rare occasion the ticket inspector comes along, they will just feign ignorance and move to standard, and to be completely honest, it’s extremely rare that a ticket inspector comes to check.

There seems to be no penalty for doing this, apart from the humiliation of having to move, and there really doesn’t seem to be many inspectors to check tickets these days, and there definitely isn’t anyone there when a fight breaks out on a late-night train.

Everyone should be able to get a seat, especially with all this technology that we have these days, surely it’s not that difficult to figure out, and all that first class is simply a white napkin over the headrest, laughable really.

Things were so much better before the pandemic, but if you look at it logically, it was just a planned demic.

Travelling by train used to be so enjoyable, but now there are no inspectors and too many disrespectful and antisocial passengers, even in first class, but then again I suppose we could always ride on the roof like in India.

Before Christmas, Nine Out Of Ten Teachers May Support Strike Action

Nine in ten teachers could back walkout action before Christmas forcing schools to close across England over pay disputes.

The figures from the largest education union, the National Education Union (NEU), reveal that hundreds of thousands of educators could join rail and postal workers causing disruption across the country as they fight back.

Up to 30,000 members have said that they would become strike volunteers as they endeavour to get their message heard.

In fact, the NEU survey, which was sent out to 450,000 members, led to the website crashing as unhappy teachers expressed their concerns.

The online ballot, which so far has 7,000 responses, still has a fortnight to run and an insider has disclosed the union will open up to a formal vote for striking.

NEU General Secretary Mary Bousted told a newspaper outlet that teachers don’t want to strike but they’re desperate and fleeing the profession in droves. Striking is their last resort, and it’s a message that things can’t go on like this.

It will pour more misery on both parents whose children were consistently forced to miss long periods of school during the COVID pandemic.

Teachers are demanding an above inflation rise in their earnings after the Department of Education told them that most would receive a five per cent rise, rising to 8.9 per cent for newly qualified staff.

But more strike action dooms on the country as the current retail price index rate (RPI), which measures inflation, was at 12.3 per cent in August.

Schools are facing a teacher retention crisis due to more than a decade of pay issues where real pay has dropped by a fifth since 2010.

Just last week NAHT union’s General Secretary Paul Whiteman said that the spiralling energy bills, inflationary prices, and lack of funding for teachers’ pay this year meant school leaders were forced to make cuts that ultimately couldn’t help but negatively affected the education and wellbeing of children.

He said that they encourage all political groups to listen to the profession to really comprehend the connection between funding, pay, and children’s life chances, and to commit to making the investment into education that’s so urgently needed.

It comes also after a summer of widespread union protesting among rail staff, postal workers and NHS staff.

In fact, just yesterday passengers were met with travel chaos as unions kickstarted the biggest rail walkout in decades during one of the busiest sporting weekends of the year.

Most teachers work from 7 am and seldom leave work or stop working till about 6 pm, and weekends are frequently worked as well. They’re not only just teachers, but social workers, counsellors, and the police and they also suffer abuse from parents.

But let’s face it, they’re no longer educators of children, but drones of the state, along with our children, and now, of course, our children will have more disruption to their schooling, so welcome to the gloomy, cold, dark and hungry winter of our discontent.

However, most teachers don’t want to strike, I mean who wants to strike? But the way newspapers demonise teachers to get readers is shocking, but then again, if you look at the basic blunders made in most articles it’s evident that these substandard journalists didn’t have a fantastic experience at school.

But it seems that the newspaper outlets are demonising everything, and then once everything loses support, the Tories can privatise it. It’s that good old saying ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’, and people are falling for all this garbage.

Pregnant Kelly Osbourne Defends Her Decision Not To Breastfeed

Kelly Osbourne has hit back at critics who have judged her decision to not breastfeed once she gives birth.

The reality celebrity who is the daughter of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne revealed in May that she and boyfriend Sid Wilson are expecting their first child together.

Kelly, 37, said she’s made the decision not to breastfeed so she can stay on medication. She revealed she’s been criticised by friends and extended family over her choice to bottle feed.

She said that she’s decided to remain on her medication instead of breastfeeding and the judgment that she’s received from her friends and also extended family was wild.

Kelly revealed people have warned her that she’s going to miss out on the bonding period, but she said it was more important to maintain her wellbeing, and she added “What kind of mother am I gonna be if I start going backwards if I start being self-destructive? It has to be what’s best for me, what’s gonna be the best for my baby.”

Kelly has once struggled with and sought help for, alcoholism, drugs, depression and anxiety.

Elsewhere in the interview, Kelly described pregnancy as the wildest experience and praised her parents for their support, and she said that she feels extremely fortunate, and that her parents have been so amazing, and that she feels eternally indebted to them.

Kelly revealed her pregnancy on Instagram by posting a picture of herself with her ultrasound.

She wrote that she knows she’s been extremely quiet these past few months so she thought she would share with everyone why.

She said that she was over the moon to announce that she was going to be a Mumma and to say that she was happy didn’t quite cut it. She said that she was ecstatic.

Kelly recently revealed that her pets have joined her in bed ever since she became pregnant, making her feel so protected at night, and she shared a picture with her 2.4 million followers on Instagram of her pet pooches snoozing beside her.

She said ever since she became pregnant all the dogs started sleeping in bed with her and that she loves it.

She added that the dogs check on her all night and that she feels so protected, and Kelly is doing what’s best for her and her family, and a happy mummy equals a happy baby.

Breastfeeding is a personal preference, and numerous mothers don’t breastfeed and they have extremely healthy children.

We should leave the poor woman alone. There’s nothing wrong with bottle feeding, and no woman should be made to feel inadequate.

We all make our own choices, and whatever the reason behind those choices has nothing to do with anyone else, and people should quit being so negative, and they should also be ashamed of themselves as this sort of behaviour by them will only make Kelly’s anxiety worse, and this is just not on. Kelly should do what she damn well likes because it’s nobody elses business.

And after going through birth, having stitches and unsightly piles I’m sure the last thing on her mind will be getting sore nipples.

It’s bad enough when random strangers who don’t know your history bitch about you, but when it comes to friends and family, that’s even worse. These are the people who you should be able to count on, and have your back, even if they don’t understand.

Who Kelly Osbourne is irrelevant because this applies to numerous women out there that are in a similar position, and if this gives them some solace that they’re not alone, then that must be a good thing.

Without A Headscarf, An Iranian Woman Eats Breakfast

A young woman was arrested by Iranian authorities after being pictured eating breakfast in a restaurant without a headscarf.

The picture, which shows Donya Rad consuming breakfast with her friend in a restaurant in Tehran without headscarves, went viral on social media and drew across-the-board attention.

The pair had been protesting the recent death of Mahsa Amini, who was killed in the custody of the Iranian morality police after being arrested for the improper wearing of a hijab.

Mahsa Amini died at the age of 22, three days after she was arrested by the morality police responsible for enforcing stringent Islamic dress code. The police said she died of a heart attack and didn’t suffer any mistreatment, despite experts claiming she was severely beaten.

Her death has already sparked widespread demonstrations throughout Iran, with public figures voicing their rage, including the Iranian national football team, who kept their black tracksuits on during anthems at the international friendly against Senegal.

After Donya’s picture went viral, it was seen by the morality police, who summoned her to explain her actions, but when Donya arrived to explain, she was arrested by police.

Her family haven’t heard from her since, other than a quick call that told them she was being transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison infamously known as the prison that held Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Donya Rad’s sister, Dina, disclosed that they were confronted by police before her sister’s detention.

She said, yesterday after the above image was published, the security agencies contacted her sister, Donya Rad and summoned her to give an explanation. After agreeing to be interrogated, she was arrested, but after a few hours of no news from her, she told her in a brief call that she’d been arrested and had been moved to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. The family are extremely worried about her health and safety.

The decision to arrest Donya Rad signals the unease Iranian authorities are encountering over unrest in the country, with demonstrations following the demise of Ms Amini spiralling into protests against the Iranian regime.

In the two weeks since the death of Ms Amini and the demonstrations that ensued, at least 83 people, including children, have been killed.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 29 journalists have been arrested, including Nilufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, the female journalist that helped to bring Ms Amini’s case to light.

This is truly horrendous. Honestly, for not wearing a flaming scarf. It’s like living in the dark ages, and what a courageous lady she is, but then that’s the Middle East for you, but then I suppose it’s their country, their rules.

However, the fact still remains that fearful and weak men fear strong women.

These are fearless women, and I absolutely applaud all women for standing up for their liberties with such dignity. Their bravery is awe-inspiring and I’m not sure I would have the courage to stand up to this tyrannical regime given the possible consequences, and this is definitely one country I’m so glad not to have been born in, and it just proves that the life we lead is the luck of the draw.

However, control and oppression of women at the hands of men will never cease, particularly when it concerns religion.

Religion is something that is personal to a person, not a stage-implemented form of power, but numerous countries like Iran still consider women as possessions, and the issue here is that in these countries men value their dogs more than they value their women.

Refugee Sobbing As She Packs Up And Returns To War-Torn Ukraine

The refugee abandoned by her British lover after he left his partner and two children for her is packing her bags and returning to Ukraine after he rejected her last bid reunion pleas in a one-hour phone call.

British father of two Tony Garnett told Sofiia Karkadym, 22, there was no chance they would ever be a couple again and he was keen to move on with his life.

The former couple spoke for the first time since police arrested her after a drunken row during which she rammed a kitchen knife into a wall last weekend and Tony stated he was terminating the relationship.

Tony, who embarked on a four-month affair with the refugee 10 days after she’d moved into the family home he shared with his partner Lorna and two young daughters, told a desperate Sofiia that her mother was also demanding she return to Ukraine.

Her mother Katerina told Tony that in love, everyone has their own destiny, and at first they were not pleased, but that she loved him and that this was a serious relationship, but now it’s over and they would like her to come home.

Sofiia has been arrested twice and cautioned by the police not to approach or get in touch with her ex-lover, but Tony agreed to contact her after hearing that she was in floods of tears in her interim accommodation while the Home Office and Ukrainian officials determine what her next move should be.

Tony, from Bradford, said that he’s not insensitive, that he does feel sad for her, but relationships come to an end and that this one is over, and that he hopes that they can be friends when all the hysteria has died down.

He said that he spoke to her and told her that there was simply no chance of them getting back together, and he said that sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind and that she’ll be much better off in Ukraine or if she gets a new relationship, and that he wished her good fortune.

Sofiia said she wouldn’t give up on Tony despite his rejection of her, and with tears flowing down her cheeks, she told a newspaper outlet that she was happy that he was talking to her again and that she didn’t want to break up with just a message that he’d sent her.

This is a heartbreaking story, but not sure why it made national news. I suppose because it’s about being human and people can connect to this sort of news on several levels, and because of course, we don’t have Jeremy Kyle anymore. Although I’m still not entirely sure why two women would have cried over this man – he looks like a real catch, doesn’t he?

And isn’t this rather inappropriate considering there’s a war going on in Ukraine where there are genuine war refugees, and clearly she wasn’t one of them? And hopefully, this will be the last that we’ll hear of this ridiculous saga. Although we shouldn’t get our knickers in a twist, they’ll likely we another twist in the saga in a couple of weeks’ time, when there’s another story or another that needs to be sold.

But these are trying times, and I’m guessing that Tony is now hoping for a stint in Big Brother or I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of here, or even an appearance on Good Morning Britain, and it’s getting to the point that this woman seems to be getting more news coverage than the war in Ukraine.

Britain Is Paralyzed By The Biggest Rail Strike In Decades

Militant unions were branded selfish as they kickstarted the biggest rail walkout in decades during one of the busiest sporting weekends of the year, with 50,000 train workers walking out across the country.

Members from the Aslef, RMT, Unite and TSSA unions are striking for 24 hours in a dispute over wages and working conditions, leaving just 11 per cent of services running.

The disruption will severely impact the 50,000 people who are expected to trek to the London Marathon on Sunday, with runners now being permitted to sign in the day before in an unusual bid to sidestep delays.

One Twitter user branded the strikes as selfish for impacting the marathon, while another added that it was a really important fundraising event for numerous charities and that it would be a shame if they suffered because of the walkout.

Another said that they thought the railway walkout was impacting one of the biggest charity fundraising events, and that it was poor timing and that it would boomerang on the unions.

However, RMT boss Mike Lynch rejected claims the unions were targeting the marathon, saying they were instead targeting the Conservative Party Conference.

Mike Lynch said it was essential to keep the velocity of the pay dispute going and pointed to members of the public who were supporting the union, adding that there were people who were inconvenienced who were supporting them every day on the picket lines.

The travel chaos will also hit football fanatics as the Premier League returns on Saturday, even seven fixtures expecting to see more than 200,000 spectators flock to stadiums across the country.

It’s the first time on record that major rail unions have joined forces to organise walkouts simultaneously.

Pop star Machine Gun Kelly and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli might also be left with quite a few empty seats at their concerts in the capital on Saturday.

Representatives heading to the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham for the weekend will also be affected.

RMT General Secretary Mike Lynch said it wasn’t his intent to target the London Marathon.

He told BBC News that they haven’t targeted the London Marathon, they’ve more targeted the Tory conference if they were honest, and that they were the people accountable for this mess.

He said that whenever they put walkouts on it’s going to inconvenience people and they don’t want to do that, and they would much rather have a settlement and get out of this dispute, but greedy unions are responsible for fare increasing all the time and pricing poorer workers off the rails.

And how precisely is the average earner meant to use already overcrowded and overpriced rail services which are unreliable at the best of times, yet they want to be paid more money for basically doing a poor job? But they don’t care because it’s all about money, power and control.

So, now ends the summer of discontent, and now brings the long, cold, dark bleak winter of our discontent.

And what is the point of trying to improve the railways and even re-open closed lines and stations if these political thugs can just hijack them and hold passengers to ransom any time they like?

These Union bosses create mayhem, cost the country billions and go home taking their enormous pay packets, and then tell their supporters that they’re one of them. It’s a total farce and they’re doing nothing for the working man.

Apparently, this was aimed at the Conservative Party Conference, but it’s also hit the London Marathon, but people don’t actually care because they’re worrying more about heating their homes – bet the Union bosses don’t have to worry about their bills and heating their homes on their enormous salaries?

‘Old Age’ Claimed The Monarch’s Life

The Queen died of ‘old age’, Her Majesty’s newly issued death certificate revealed.

The 96-year-old sovereign died at Balmoral Castle on Thursday, September 8 at 3.10 pm before all of her children and grandchildren could get to her bedside and more than three hours before the public was told.

The death certificate, released by National Records of Scotland, cites the Queen as dying of ‘old age’, the same stated cause of death as Prince Philip’s in April 2021. The informer of Her Majesty’s demise was Princess Royal, Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter Princess Anne.

The 3.10 pm time of death on the historic document, which gives the monarch’s occupation as ‘Her Majesty The Queen’, shows that King Charles and his only sister were by their mother’s side when she passed in Aberdeenshire three weeks ago.

It’s also been established what was suspected on that sad day, that most of the Queen’s children and grandchildren tried in vain to be with her during the late monarch’s last hours.

Prince William, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie Countess of Wessex, were in the air when the Queen passed away. They had been trying to get to Balmoral, and took off from RAF Northolt in South Ruislip, west London, at 2.39 pm, landing an hour later.

Prince Harry was not on the aircraft with his brother and had to make his own travels to Scotland on a jet from Luton, taking off after his grandmother had passed. He landed in Aberdeen at 6.46 pm, 16 minutes after the Palace made its announcement, and then arrived at Balmoral at 7.52 pm, almost five hours after she’d died.

It’s still unclear exactly when Harry was told, but a spokesman for the King highlighted recently that the public was only informed after every family member had been told.

Douglas James Allan Glass is noted as the certifying registered medical practitioner. Dr Glass is a GP from the Highlands village of Aboyne, about 20 miles from the Royal Family’s Scottish home. He is also Apothecary to the Household at Balmoral.

Old age was the only cause of death listed, with no other donating factors.

It was the same cause of death as on her husband Prince Philip’s death certificate.

But what doctor would write ‘old age’? Surely ‘natural causes’ would be the proper wording. Although she must have missed Prince Philip dearly, so perhaps what should have been put on there would have been ‘hastened by a broken heart’. But nevertheless, the dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them, but to be fair, the lack of her presence makes absolutely no difference to our lives in any practical way.

However, people by nature are disgustingly nosey, which is one of the most repulsive traits of human nature, but unfortunately, gutter rags are allowed to generate news reports, and while this goes on there will be no such thing as a private family matter, but then again, she was the longest serving Monarch, and this is historical information and of significant importance, although I’m sure that in time she will be forgotten as well, along with the rest of the Royal Family.

It’s Time To Nip, Tuck, And Grow! 

Standing five foot six inches tall he was well within the boundaries of normal, but in his mind’s eye, the New Yorker, who wants to be known only as Apotheosis, saw himself in a different light, as a statuesque six foot.

Desperate to become the man he believed he should be, the determined 37-year-old turned to extreme measures, undergoing excruciating, costly surgery.

The procedure, in which both legs are broken and then gradually stretched, bears more than a little likeness to medieval torture, but the courageous patient has now achieved a remarkable six inches of additional height.

Apotheosis explained that he realised that the world looked at him in a specific way but that he didn’t look at himself in that certain way.

He said that he wanted the way he felt about himself and the way the world felt about him to be similar and that in some cultures, the painful and costly procedure is seen as an investment in the end.

The trend for limb lengthening surgery swept China where minimum heights are usually mentioned in personal adverts and job advertisements as the nation opened up to the West a decade ago. To enter the foreign service, men are required to be at least five foot seven, but the controversial surgery was outlawed in 2006 after a series of botched jobs.

Meanwhile, a growing number of men are seeking limb lengthening procedures in the United States.

Florida-based orthopaedic surgeon Dr Dror Paley is one of the few US medics to have completed the cosmetic procedure.

The surgeon, who works at the Paley Institute at St Mary’s Medical Centre in West Palm Beach, last year performed 650 leg lengthening surgeries, most but not all to remedy deformities.

Dr Paley said the majority who come for cosmetic limb lengthening have what they call, height dysphoria, and that they’re dissatisfied with their height.

He said it’s one of the few psychologic psychiatric disorders that you can fix with the knife.

The surgery isn’t for the faint-hearted. The leg bone is broken in two. The doctor then implants a state-of-the-art telescopic rod into the cartilage of the bone which then pulls it apart very slowly, one millimetre a day.

The new living bone grows along it to fill the void and muscles, nerves, the Growth: The most hi-tech devices can extend the legs by inches, arteries and the skin, also renew themselves.

The cost is a prohibitive $85,000 and takes at least three months to complete, and gruelling physical therapy is necessary.

Apotheosis journeyed to Germany for his surgery and his first generation implants that were extended by the body’s movement rather than remote control.

He’s still recovering and is hesitant to speak too soon of success, and he told ABC News that he was still lengthening right now and there could be further difficulties and that he didn’t want to speak about it successfully until it’s been successful.

He said on makemetaller.org a candid internet discussion board for those contemplating surgery he advises that he’s not telling anyone they should do this surgery, but he’s laying out his experiences and the risks that he’s taken and the success that he’s had and to let people make their own decision, but he said that he already feels like a new man.

He said that he walks down the street a different person perceived differently by the world for the rest of his life and that he’s who he wants to be now.

The online nickname Apotheosis comes from the Greek to become godlike, in the sense of being the best you can be.

I’m sure that many of us would like to be taller or even shorter than we are, but isn’t surgery to change our appearance a step too far?

There are so many things that can go wrong with surgery, and it should maybe be left for those people who are genuinely ill, not people wanting to alter their appearance, but then where there’s a demand, there’s a market, but then I suppose it’s his money, his body, his choice, although he could have saved himself all that pain and effort by just standing on a box when he looked in the mirror.

A Woman Breaks Down In Tears As She Reveals Two Men Walked In On Her In A Primark Unisex Changing Room

A woman said that two men walked in on her in a Primark unisex changing room has urged others to never go in them alone.

Charlotte Kirby, from Cambridge, was visiting the clothes store when she revealed two men attempted walking in on her while she tried outfits on in an almost empty changing room.

The event manager, 25, took to her TikTok @charlottemkirby to convey an emotional video to alert other customers and to clarify what had occurred, saying she will never try garments on in-store again.

Crying in her car, she said that she probably shouldn’t be doing the video while she was so emotional but felt she had to get the word out there.

She said that she was just in Primark in Cambridge and that she felt really foolish being so emotional about it, but she was trying on some clothes, and that it was a unisex changing room which she’s really for and that she loves that it’s unisex because then it makes everyone feel included, but not once, but twice two men opened the curtain and walked in on her. Luckily both times she was fully attired, but she could have easily not been.

The TikToker explained how it was two different people, but that they were undoubtedly from the same group.

She continued that there were probably 100 changing rooms available, so it wasn’t like ‘Is there someone in here or not?’

She said the first time was as they walked in they did it and the second time, was like one of them said to the other, ‘Have you tried it on, can I see?’ and he opened it, and that both times she was stunned and said sorry like it was her fault, but she added that Primark had been great, and they were really good about it and they even walked her back to her car because she was afraid.

She said that evidently, it’s not the first time it’s happened and security is watching back on tapes, attempting to find out who it is.

She said she just wants people to be cautious, and that if they do go into a changing room that they should try not to go alone and that she will never be doing that again. She would rather take it home, try it on and take it back to get a refund if the items are no good.

Unisex changing rooms are all very good for inclusion, but they should have lockable doors on them, not just a curtain. Toilets have them, so why shouldn’t changing rooms? Sadly there will be more and more of these unisex changing rooms until there is an extremely bad outcome. Girls should be protected and women should be respected. But then this is what you get for going woke, you go broke.

Unisex changing rooms should have lockable doors, but even then a man could climb up in the cubicle next to you and see you changing because the doors wouldn’t be up to the ceiling, and that applies to a lot of places.

The most logical thing would be to put solid doors in the changing rooms so that they can be locked, and also to have someone in the changing room area to keep an eye on things, but of course, that would cost too much money and manpower, but then we don’t actually need solid doors, alarms and manpower, just stop unisex changing rooms, it’s really that simple.

It’s All Changing!

Britain will see a wealth of modifications to everyday things as the Queen’s picture and logo on banknotes, letterboxes and stamps are replaced with that of the new King, Charles III.

British money won’t be replaced overnight and the transition will take years as new coins and notes are created with the face of the King and the others are slowly withdrawn from circulation.

Another change will be that while the Queen’s picture faces to the right on coins, new ones will show the King facing left. This is due to a practice dating from the 17th century to alternate the way successive sovereigns are facing. The Queen’s coin didn’t emerge until 1953, the year after her accession.

Until British money was decimalised in 1971, it was common to see multiple monarchs facing both ways, in a handful of change.

The new coins and notes will need to be designed and minted or printed. Then The Royal Mint advisory committee must send recommendations for new coins to the Chancellor and get royal approval. Designs are then selected and final choices approved by the Chancellor and then the King.

Stamps also display a picture of the Queen and new ones will have to be created featuring the face of the King, again with the existing ones phased out slowly. Charles may have already sat for such sculptures or pictures, and he will again have to approve the designs.

Royal Mail postboxes bearing the Queen’s ER cypher (for Elizabeth Regina, the Latin for Queen) are unlikely to be removed. In fact, some embellished with the Queen’s father King George VI’s GR (George Rex, Latin for King) cypher can still be seen today, but any new postboxes could feature the new King’s insignia.

A representative for Royal Mail said that following the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Mail has confirmed that stamps carrying the picture of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II remain valid for use. These include definitive stamps, regular everyday stamps, and special stamps, and as previously announced, following the introduction of barcodes to everyday stamps, these stamps remain valid until the end of January 2023.

All special stamps that have already been announced will be issued, although the takeoff dates of some may alter, and in line with past practices following the demise of a sovereign, all current post boxes will remain untouched.

Postboxes already in production or being prepared for installation will also maintain the seal of Queen Elizabeth II.

In criminal court cases, the R to denote the Crown now stands for Rex rather than Regina. Another change in matters of law is that barristers and solicitors appointed by the monarch will see their title switch from Queen’s Counsel (QC) to King’s Counsel (KC).

However, things like this should be replaced when they need to be through wear and tear or expiry because public finances shouldn’t have to bear the expense of tradition, although wear and tear on a post box would take decades. However, we do live in Great Britain, not Little Britain, but still, there’s no need to squander money on things like this and there’s definitely no hurry.

But then I guess this is minor compared to the incompetence of Parliament during COVID wasting hundreds of billions of pounds, and I suppose tradition is what makes Great Britain.

The thing is it really makes no difference because ultimately letters and stamps will become extinct, along with money, and I truly hope that King Charles III has a good inning or it will end up costing us a fortune.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started