The first look of banknotes bearing King Charles III revealed by Bank of England

Picture by Bank of England/BBC

The new look of banknotes featuring the image of King Charles has been unveiled by the Bank of England.

New notes will feature the King's portrait on the front and in the see-through security window.

Existing notes will still be accepted in shops after the new notes begin to circulate.

The first coins bearing his likeness entered circulation earlier this month, the Royal Mint has previously announced.

The new banknotes feature an engraved portrait of Charles based on a photograph owned by the royal household and made available in 2013, the Bank of England told AFP. The design was "finalised in the recent months" and approved by the king, it noted, with the notes to be mass-produced from the first half of 2023.

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.

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