29,000 million coins will change the face of Isabel II for that of Carlos III, but the producers of 'souvenirs' do not intend to do the same

The Phantom of the Opera

is in mourning.

On Monday, September 19, the show will not be performed in London's West End to respect the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on September 8.

Afterwards, the ghost will return to its tragic routine.

But she will not do it in Her Majesty Theater, as she has done up to now, but in His Majesty Theater.

The name change of this private company is subtle, but it is part of a

much larger

With the death of Isabel II the country is immersed in a change of image, slow but inexorable, to replace the dead queen with the king.

After 70 years on the throne, the name and face of Elizabeth of England is not only in the hearts of many Britons, but in her pockets.

In 29,000 million coins and 4,700 million bills.

In hundreds of thousands of stamps and mailboxes.

On the business cards of the best lawyers and in the passport of all Britons.

In dolls, commemorative dishes, gins and tea bags.

Even in the British national anthem, which she goes from

to

depending on the gender of the regent in charge.

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Curses, inheritances and accusations of colonialism.

What will happen to the jewels of Elizabeth II?

In the coming months, his name and image will have to be erased, giving way to those of the new king.

The change will begin with the structure of the State.

The Treasury, the Tax Agency, the Penitentiary Service or the Armed Forces are accompanied by the formula "of her Majesty", and in English the possessives have gender.

Thus, the

, feminine, will have to be changed by a

, masculine.

This small change will mean a huge expense in adapting the websites, document letterheads and signs of hundreds of buildings.

The change will affect the big, but also the small.

The most prestigious lawyers in the kingdom, those designated as Queen's Counsel, will have to change their business cards, because overnight they have become King's Counsel.

All British passports contain a small text, a formality that seems more medieval than administrative.

They demand “on behalf of hers (

, in feminine) Majesty to all those to whom it corresponds who allow the bearer to pass freely without obstacles and who provide him with the necessary assistance and protection”.

That is why thousands of Britons have wondered on social networks these days, between irony and bewilderment, if this pompous demand is still valid.

The new passports will change the possessive pronoun, but will keep the archaic formula.

Union flags with the face of Elizabeth II for sale at a souvenir stall in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee, on June 1, 2022 in London.

Mike Kemp (In Pictures via Getty Images)

Some of these changes may be slightly reminiscent of those that occurred in Spain when King Juan Carlos I abdicated in favor of his son, Felipe VI.

Then new coins had to be minted, the stamps, the official titles and even the name of the Prince of Asturias Awards were changed, which came to be called the Princess of Asturias.

But the similarities end there, because her presence in the public life of Elizabeth II goes beyond the official and administrative.

In addition to a queen, Elizabeth II was a brand.

A very good.

She was valued at 40,000 million euros, according to a study by the data analysis company Statista.

That places her above other great names in art, communication or sports that have known how to make her image profitable;

people like Beyoncé, Obama or the Beckhams.

"A brand is nothing more than a set of perceptions and associations," says Oriol Iglesias, Associate Professor of Marketing at ESADE.

In the case of Elizabeth II, these perceptions have been entrenched over 70 years.

"Having had such a long reign of hers made her very present and for a long time in the lives of the British, which allowed her to develop an emotional connection."

According to Statista,

the British royal family as a whole would be the fifth largest and most well-known corporate brand in the world, behind only Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple.

The Windsors are known in the UK as The Firm for a reason.

Its global brand value is estimated at more than 82,300 million euros, so, with the death of the monarch, The Firm would have lost almost half of its appeal.

And brand equity is not inherited.

The two pound coins may change the face of the queen to that of the new king, but they will still be spent to buy dolls of Elizabeth II.

Those made by Kikkerland have sold out,

Heike Siegel,

the brand's

“We sold a few thousand in the last few days, until we ran out of

", recognize.

They are called Solar Queen and they are nice figurines of the queen.

They are charged with sunlight and energetically wave their hands, replicating the famous hieratic royal salute.

They sell very well.

“We are already restocking,” says Siegel, who hopes to have stock on his website in October.

They will continue to produce figurines of the queen as long as there is demand, but not of the king.

"At the moment there are no plans to add a Solar King," she says.

Solar Queen, the figure that represents Queen Elizabeth II manufactured by the Kikkerland company.Kikkerland

They are dolls, but their sale is not a game.

The

serves as a seismograph, its sales register the variations in the popularity of the members of the British royal house.

"This business shows that it is a strong brand with a lot of projection," says Professor Iglesias.

"But in addition, these same

also contribute to the empowerment of the brand and the reinforcement of the emotional ties of the monarchy, both with the British people and with tourists."

The sale of objects on the official website of the British royal house skyrockets with each event.

It happened four years ago with the wedding of Henry of England and Meghan Markle and this year with the queen's Platinum Jubilee.

It is not happening with her death, because the store is closed as a sign of respect.

Perhaps that is why many English people took to second-hand markets on the internet, sites like Gumtree or eBay.

newspaper noted last weekend

, “as manufacturers phase out items bearing the queen's likeness to make room for those of her son. , King Carlos III”.

The image of the queen not only benefited

.

An analysis carried out by the Brand Finance consultancy shows that its impact on the UK economy is around 2,300 million euros a year.

This positively affects tourism, trade, international relations, even the media.

It remains to be seen if the figure of Carlos III reaches that attractiveness, but the truth is that the crown favors.

published on September 13 showed that becoming king had substantially changed Britons' perceptions of Charles of England: 63% now believe he will make a good monarch, an increase of 30% from the previous poll, of last May.

The change of image of Carlos III is already underway, but the high point will come next year.

It will be then when a great festive event takes place: his coronation.

The splendors are being prepared with the utmost care and zeal, in an operation that has come to be baptized as Golden Orb (orb of gold, in Spanish).

Several British media have assured that it will be smaller, shorter and cheaper than the one that crowned the late queen 70 years ago.

Also that it will be more modern and multicultural.

The ceremony is being thought out to the millimeter to sell the image of the new king, to build a story, a brand, and value.

His staging is based on pomp and pageantry, in the oldest tradition.

But appearances are deceiving, this celebration also makes sense from the point of view of

modern

There will be millions of attentive people, observing every detail, commenting on it on social networks.

There are no phones, only crowns, but from a marketing point of view it is not far from a launch event for Apple, the brand immediately above the Windsors, The Firm, in the

Statista

It will be the great opportunity to introduce the new king and complete his

of him.

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