Mar 2018

Money in our pockets: Brits want Prince Harry, Gary Lineker and J. K. Rowling on UK bank notes

By StoneX Bullion

A fifth (21%) of young Brits would like to see Prince Harry featured on UK currency
Roald Dahl (28%), Alex Guinness (25%), and Princess Diana (17%) were also favourites to be featured on UK money
A quarter of Millennials would like to see Gary Lineker on UK bank notes

Brits want Prince Harry, Gary Lineker and J. K. Rowling burning a hole in their wallets, according to research commissioned by StoneX Bullion.

The coin and bullion retailer polled 1,000 Brits to discover their attitudes towards the public figures featured on UK currency, as well as their thoughts on who they would like to carry in their wallets in the future.

As four in ten (42%) Brits believe that the UK public figures featured on UK currency are outdated, StoneX Bullion has delved further to discover who Brits would like to replace them.Brits back Prince Harry on UK banknotes and his upcoming royal weddingQueen Elizabeth has been featured on banknotes since 1960, but Brits believe that her husband Prince Philip also deserves the honour of being featured on UK currency with 23% of the nation backing him as their favourite Royal to be on a UK banknote.

5th in line to the throne Prince Harry was also a royal favourite to be featured on UK currency, with a fifth (21%) of the public wanting to carry the Prince of Wales in our wallets.

Prince Harry

Millennials, in particular, were keen for Prince Harry to be featured on a bank note (33%), and a fifth (17%) of 18-34-year-olds are also eager for his soon-to-be bride Meghan Markle to be featured on UK currency which may prove controversial as none of the respondents aged over 65 said they would like to see Meghan Markle featured on UK banknotes.

The research also revealed that four in ten (42%) Brits are excited about the upcoming wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Younger Brits were found to be more excited about the royal wedding with almost half (48%) of Brits aged 18 to 24 and 54% aged 25- 34 are excited about the upcoming nuptials, compared to 36% of over 65s and 31% of 55-64-year olds.

The South West of England was found to be the region most excited about the upcoming royal wedding, followed by Northern Ireland (50%) and South East (54%). Only a fifth (18%) of Wales were found to be excited about the wedding of the Prince of Wales.

While some Brits may not be excited about the royal wedding, over half (52%) believe Meghan Markle will be a positive addition to the Royal family.

Almost two thirds (65%) of Brits aged 25 – 34 said they believe Meghan Markle will make a positive addition to the royal family, followed by 57% of 18 – 24-year olds, and 51% of 45 – 54-year olds.

Over three-quarters of Northern Ireland, respondents said they believe Meghan Markle will be a positive addition to the Royal family, followed by two-thirds of Brits from the South West, and 60% of Scots.Roald Dahl is Britain’s No.1 public figure they’d like to see featured on UK currency.Over three quarters (78%) of Brits said that it’s important that public figures featured on UK currency have had a positive impact on British society.

Britain’s favourite children’s author Roald Dahl was named as Brits number one choice to be featured on UK bank notes, followed by actor Alex Guinness (25%) and Prince Phillip (23%).

Dame Judi Dench (23%), Princess Diana (17%) and Michael Cain (19%) were also named as public figures Brits believe deserve the honour of featuring on UK bank notes.

The full top ten public figures Brits would like to see featured on UK currency are:

Roald Dahl – 28%
Alex Guinness – 25%
Prince Phillip – 23%
Judi Dench – 23%
Prince Harry – 21%
Helen Mirren – 20%
Michael Cain – 19%
Princess Diana – 17%
Isaac Newton – 17%

Millennials and Baby Boomers differ in who they think deserves to be on our bank notesStoneX Bullion discovered that the generational differences between millennials and baby boomers reflect in their attitudes towards UK currency.

Two thirds (61%) of Brits aged 18-24 think the public figures featured on UK currency are outdated compared to 18% of over 65s.

Their attitudes towards current UK currency reflected in their choices of public figures in the study. Older Brits would like to see more historical figures to be featured on UK currency, while younger Brits are more interested in people in pop culture to be featured on their banknotes.

Brits aged over 65 would like to see actor Alex Guinness (52%) to be featured on UK money, as well as historic civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel (22%). Other public figures baby boomers would like to see featured on banknotes include The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe author C. S Lewis (20%), Lord of the Rings author J R. R. Tolkien (17%) and author of classics 1984 and Animal Farm George Orwell (15%).

A third (31%) of young Brits would like to see Dame Helen Mirren featured on UK currency, while a quarter (25%) would like to see Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker on UK currency, and a further 25% would like to Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling featured on UK currency.

TV presenters were also a popular choice for young Brits as Graham Norton (16%) and Philip Schofield (4%) were among favourites to be featured on bank notes.

For further information regarding the study, please visit the StoneX Bullion website:-Ends-For more information on the study please contact Kerry Mcgreene: [email protected]

Source:

Based on a polled via Onepoll conducted March 2018

Notes to editor:Top ten public figures 18 - 24-year olds want on a banknote (who haven’t been featured before):

Roald Dahl – 39%
Prince Harry – 38%
Helen Mirren – 31%
Gary Oldman – 29%
Gary Lineker – 25%
K. Rowling – 25%
Maggie Smith – 20%
Prince Philip – 20%
Ant and Dec – 16%
Graham Norton – 16%

Top ten figures over 65s would like to see featured on a banknote (who haven’t been featured before):

Alex Guinness – 52%
Prince Philip – 35%
Judi Dench – 33%
Isambard Kingdom Brunel – 22%
S Lewis – 20%
Prince Harry – 19%
J R. R. Tolkien – 17%
Maggie Smith – 17%
George Orwell – 15%
Ian Fleming – 15%

About StoneX Bullion StoneX Bullion is one of Europe’s bullion houses, providing high quality and sought-after metals, with products in silver, gold, platinum, and palladium.