Alexander McQueen On The £20 Note? It Could Happen

Photo: Francois Guillot/AFP

As the US debates who could replace president Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, our British cousins are having the same discussion across the pond. This week, the Bank of England (BoE) published a list of eligible artists who could grace future 20 pound notes, and designer Lee Alexander McQueen appears among the 592 personalities nominated by citizens.

More than 30,000 Brits submitted their picks to honor "visual artists who they believe helped to shape British thought, innovation, leadership, values and society," according to the BoE guidelines. Back in July 2013, they chose author Jane Austen to be featured on new printings of the 10 pound note.

The competition is fierce, but everything is possible: McQueen, who took his own life in 2010, will be up against the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Marie Tussaud, Stanley Kubrick, and Charlie Chaplin as the potential new face of the 20 pound note.

A final decision will be reached in spring 2016 when the BoE issues a shortlist of five eligible personalities. It's up to the governor of the BoE to chose who will appear on the currency, but we'll have to wait until 2020 to see the new notes be distributed across Great Britain.

See the full list of nominees here.