London

The Bank of England on Tuesday unveiled the design of banknotes featuring King Charles III.

In a statement, the central bank said the portrait of the King will appear on existing designs of all four polymer banknotes (5, 10, 20 and 50 pounds), with no other changes to the existing designs.

The King's image will appear on the front of the banknotes, as well as in cameo in the see-through security window.

The new notes are expected to enter circulation by mid-2024.

All polymer banknotes carrying a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II remain legal tender, and the public can continue to use these as normal, the statement said.

"In line with guidance from the Royal Household, to minimise the environmental and financial impact of this change, new notes will only be printed to replace worn banknotes and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes.

Queen Elizabeth was the first and only monarch to appear on circulating Bank of England banknotes, starting in 1960.

Notes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks do not depict the monarch.

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There are about 4.5 billion individual Bank of England notes worth about 80 billion pounds in circulation at present.