First red postbox of the Carolean era is unveiled in Cambridgeshire

[-:Undertaker:-]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjr4wxd277qo

First red postbox of the new Carolean era is unveiled in Cambridgeshire

Royal Mail are also updating their logo to replace the St Edward's Crown with the Tudor Crown

The first red post box with the cypher of King Charles III has been revealed by the Royal Mail.

Julie Spence, the Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, unveiled the post box on High Street, Great Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, with the assistance of children from the Vine Inter-Church Primary School.

The pupils posted the first letters, which were handwritten notes to the King, into the freestanding stainless steel structure.

The King has granted the Royal Mail special use of his cypher, which is his personal property.

The King's cypher consists of his initial C, with the roman numeral III and an R for Rex - Latin for King - under a Tudor Crown.

The unveiling continues the 170-year-old tradition of stamping red post boxes with a royal cypher, which dates back to the reign of Queen Victoria.

Post boxes are not replaced, therefore existing boxes will retain the cypher from the period in which they were installed.

Royal Mail has replaced St Edward’s Crown with the Tudor Crown in their logo.

The first Royal Mail van to feature The King’s cypher on the front door and the new Royal Mail logo featuring The Tudor Crown spotted today! pic.twitter.com/lRlQQJ2Yxe

— Daniel J. Devane 🇬🇧 (@DanielJDevane) July 12, 2024

The King's cypher will also be applied to the Royal Mail's fleet of vehicles, an initial roll-out of 100 trucks will take place on Friday, with a further 290 over the next six weeks.

The St Edward's Crown, preferred by Queen Elizabeth II, with it's dipped arches will be replaced with the high-arched Tudor Crown, chosen for use by King Charles III.

In total, 3,636 vehicles will be updated with the King's cypher between August and October this year.

Another visible change.

I've seen all royal cyphers on postboxes from Victoria to Elizabeth II, including the very rare Edward VIII postboxes, so here's another I will have to scratch from my list. Funnily enough it was only yesterday that I was taking my Italian and Spanish students on a history tour and pointed the postboxes out to them, and I then came found and saw this on the news.