Speculating About The Coronation

Tags

coronation, Crown of Queen Mary, Cullinan II, Gold State Coach, Imperial State Crown., King Charles III of the United Kingdom, Koh-i-Noor Diamond, St. Edward's Crown, Star of Africa

I hope it’s not too soon to talk about the Coronation of King Charles III.
So far the date for the Coronation has not been set but it will be sometime next year.
I heard that this will be more low key than his mother’s coronation.

HM The King

With that in mind I have some questions…

1. Do you think the gold State Coach of George III will be used? I hear it’s a rather bumpy ride and that might be too much for the King who will be 74 by then.

Golden State Coach

The Gold State Coach is an enclosed, eight-horse-drawn carriage used by the British Royal Family. Commissioned in 1760 by King George III, it was built in the London workshops of Samuel Butler. It was commissioned for £7,562 (£3.54 million = US$4.188 million in 2022, adjusted for inflation). It was completed in 1762.

This coach has been used at the coronation of every British monarch since George IV. The coach’s great age, weight, and lack of manoeuvrability have limited its use to grand state occasions such as coronations, royal weddings, and the jubilees of a monarch. Until the Second World War, the coach was the monarch’s usual transport to and from State Opening of Parliament.

2. Because of his age do you think the Crown of St. Edward may be too large and he’ll use the Imperial State Crown instead?

Crown of St. Edward

St Edward’s Crown is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of the crown have been traditionally used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th century.

The original crown was a holy relic kept at Westminster Abbey, Edward’s burial place, until the regalia was either sold or melted down when Parliament abolished the monarchy in 1649, during the English Civil War.

This St Edward’s Crown was made for Charles II in 1661. It is solid gold, 30 centimetres (12 in) tall, weighs 2.23 kilograms (4.9 lb), and is decorated with 444 precious and semi-precious stones. The crown is similar in weight and overall appearance to the original, but its arches are Baroque.

After 1689, it was not used to crown a monarch for over 200 years. In 1911, the tradition was revived by George V, and subsequent monarchs (except Edward VIII, who was not crowned at all) have been crowned using St Edward’s Crown. A stylised image of this crown is used on coats of arms, badges, logos and various other insignia in the Commonwealth realms to symbolise the royal authority of the monarch.

When not in use, St Edward’s Crown is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.

Imperial State Crown

3. Speaking of the Imperial State Crown… Do you think the Imperial State Crown will be modified for the King other than size?

The Imperial State Crown made for Queen Victoria in 1838 is the basis for today’s crown. Made by Rundell and Bridge in 1838 using old and new jewels, it had a crimson velvet cap with ermine border and a lining of white silk. It weighed 39.25 troy ounces (43.06 oz; 1,221 g) and was decorated with 1,363 brilliant-cut, 1,273 rose-cut and 147 table-cut diamonds, 277 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 4 rubies, and the Black Prince’s Ruby (a spinel).

At the State Opening of Parliament in 1845, the Duke of Argyll was carrying the crown before Queen Victoria when it fell off the cushion and broke. Victoria wrote in her diary, “it was all crushed and squashed like a pudding that had sat down”. The empty frame of Victoria’s imperial state crown survives in the Royal Collection.

A new crown was made for the coronation of George VI in 1937 by Garrard & Co. The crown was adjusted for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, with the head size reduced and the arches lowered by 25 mm (1 inch) to give it a more feminine appearance.

King George VI wearing the Imperial State Crown with the higher arches.

Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Imperial State Crown with the lowered arches.

4. What crown will be used for Queen Camilla?

Consort crowns

After the Restoration, wives of kings – queens consort – traditionally wore the State Crown of Mary of Modena, wife of James II-VII who first wore it at their coronation in 1685. Originally set with 561 hired diamonds and 129 pearls, it is now set with crystals and cultured pearls for display in the Jewel House along with a matching diadem that consorts wore in procession to the Abbey. The diadem once held 177 diamonds, 1 ruby, 1 sapphire, and 1 emerald. By the 19th century, that crown was judged to be too theatrical and in a poor state of repair, so in 1831 the Crown of Queen Adelaide was made for Queen Adelaide, wife of William IV, using gemstones from her private jewellery.

Queen Mary’s Crown

Thus began a tradition of each queen consort having a crown made specially for their use. In 1902 the Crown of Queen Alexandra, a European-style crown – flatter and with eight half-arches instead of the typical four – was made for Queen Alexandra, wife of Edward VII, to wear at their coronation. Set with over 3,000 diamonds, it was the first consort crown to include the Koh-i-Noor diamond presented to Queen Victoria in 1850 following the British conquest of the Punjab. Originally 191 carats (38 g) and set in an armlet, it was cut down to an oval brilliant weighing 105 carats (21 g), which Victoria mounted in a brooch and circlet.

The second was the Crown of Queen Mary; also unusual for a British crown owing to its eight half-arches, it was made in 1911 for Queen Mary, wife of George V. Mary paid for the Art Deco-inspired crown out of her own pocket and had originally hoped it would become the one traditionally used by future consorts. Altogether, it is adorned with 2,200 diamonds, and once contained the 94.4-carat (19 g) Cullinan III and 63.4-carat (13 g) Cullinan IV diamonds. Its arches were made detachable in 1914 allowing it to be worn as an open crown or circlet.

After George V’s death, Mary continued wearing the crown (without its arches) as a queen mother, so the Crown of Queen Elizabeth was created for Queen Elizabeth, wife of George VI, and later known as the Queen Mother, to wear at their coronation in 1937. It is the only British crown made entirely out of platinum, and was modelled on Queen Mary’s Crown, but has four half-arches instead of eight.

The crown is decorated with about 2,800 diamonds, most notably the Koh-i-Noor in the middle of the front cross. It also contains a replica of the 22.5-carat (5 g) Lahore Diamond given to Queen Victoria by the East India Company in 1851, and a 17.3-carat (3 g) diamond given to her by Abdülmecid I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, in 1856. The crown was laid on top of the Queen Mother’s coffin in 2002 during her lying in state and funeral. The crowns of Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary now feature crystal replicas of the Koh-i-Noor, which has been the subject of repeated controversy, with governments of both India and Pakistan claiming to be the diamond’s rightful owners and demanding its return ever since gaining independence from the UK.

Love to hear your thoughts!

The Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Part VII: The Creation of Two New Empires

Tags

Bishop of Rome, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, Emperor Franz II, Emperor of the French, Imperial Crown of Austria, King George III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Napoleon Bonaparte, Pope Pius VII, The Holy Roman Empire

The head of the French Republic, Napoleon, assumed the title “Emperor of the French” in 1804. Among others, one of the important figures attending the coronation was Pope Pius VII, probably fearing that Napoleon planned to conquer the Papal States.

Pope Pius VII was aware that Napoleon symbolically linked his imperial coronation with the imperial coronation of Charlemagne and would most likely have caught the similarity between Napoleon’s title and Emperor of the Romans, the title used by Franz II and all Holy Roman emperors before him. Through his presence at the ceremony, Pius VII symbolically approved of the transfer of imperial power (translatio imperii) from the Romans (and thus the Franks and Germans) to the French.

Napoleon’s coronation received a mixed reaction in the Holy Roman Empire. Although a return to monarchy in France was welcomed (though unfortunate in so far that the monarch was Napoleon), the imperial title (instead of a royal one) was not.

In the empire, Napoleon’s title raised fears that it might inspire the Russian Emperor to insist that he was equal to the Holy Roman Emperor and might encourage other monarchs, such as King George III of the United Kingdom, to also proclaim themselves emperors.

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French

Relations between the Habsburgs and George III were complicated; in diplomacy, the court at Vienna had for many years refused to refer to the British king as “His Majesty” since he was only a king, not an emperor. The Habsburg diplomat Ludwig von Cobenzl, fearing the consequences of Napoleon’s coronation, is quoted as having advised Holy Roman Emperor Franz II that “‘as Roman Emperor, Your Majesty has enjoyed till now precedence ahead of all European potentates, including the Russian Emperor”.

Though Napoleon’s imperial title was viewed with distaste, Austrian officials immediately realized that if they were to refuse to accept him as an Emperor, war with France would be renewed. Instead, the focus became on how to accept Napoleon as an Emperor while still maintaining the pre-eminence of their own emperor and empire.

France had officially accepted parity with Austria as a distinct state in 1757, 1797 and 1801 and in the same settlements accepted that the Holy Roman Empire outranked both Austria and France. Thus, it was decided that Austria would be raised to the rank of an empire in order to maintain the parity between Austria and France while still preserving the Roman Imperial title as pre-eminent, outranking both.

Empire of Austria

The Imperial Crown of Austria, used until the end of the Habsburg monarchy in Austria and originally made for Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Franz II proclaimed himself as Emperor of Austria (without the need of a new coronation, as he had already had an imperial coronation) on August 11, 1804, in addition to already being the Holy Roman Emperor. Cobenzl advised that a separate hereditary Austrian title would also allow the Habsburg to maintain parity with other rulers (since the Holy Roman title was viewed by Cobenzl as merely honorific) and ensure elections to the position of Holy Roman Emperor in the future.

A myriad of reasons were used to justify the Austrian Empire’s creation, including the number of subjects under the Habsburg Monarchy, the vast extent of his crown lands and the long association between the Habsburg family and the elective Holy Roman imperial title.

Another important point used to justify its creation was that Emperor Franz II was, in the traditional sense, the supreme Christian monarch and he was thus entitled to award himself with any dignities he wished. The title “Emperor of Austria” was meant to associate with all of Franz II’s personal domains (not just Austria, but also lands such as Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia), regardless of their current position within or outside the Holy Roman Empire. “Austria” in this sense referred to the dynasty (often officially called the “House of Austria” instead of the “House of Habsburg”), not the geographical location.

The title of Holy Roman Emperor remained pre-eminent to both “Emperor of the French” and “Emperor of Austria” as it embodied the traditional ideal of the universal Christian empire. Neither the Austrian nor the French title made claims to govern this universal empire and thus did not disturb the traditional and established world order.

The imperial titles of Austria and France were seen as more or less royal titles (as they were hereditary) and in the minds of the Austrians, there still remained only one true empire and one true emperor in Europe. To illustrate this, Francis II’s official imperial title read “elected Roman Emperor, ever Augustus, hereditary Emperor of Austria”, placing the Austrian title behind the Roman title.

Franz, Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia

Though Napoleon was reluctant to tie his own imperial title to any concessions, he needed recognition from Austria to secure wider recognition and thus agreed to recognize Franz II’s new title. Prior to his own coronation, he sent a personal letter of congratulations to Francis. George III of the United Kingdom recognized the new title in October and although Russian Emperor Alexander I objected to Franz II “lowering himself to the level of the usurper Napoleon”, he recognized the title in November.

The only significant objections to Franz II’s title were raised by Sweden, which through holding Swedish Pomerania, an Imperial Estate, had a place in the Reichstag. The Swedes saw the title as a “clear breach” of the imperial constitution and, invoking their prerogative as a guarantor of the imperial constitution, demanded a formal debate in the Reichstag, a threat that was neutralized by the other parties of the Reichstag agreeing to an extended summer recess until November.

To defend the title, imperial representatives argued that it did not infringe on the imperial constitution as there were already other examples of dual monarchies within the empire, states such as Prussia and Sweden were not part of the empire, but their possessions within the empire were.

From the period of August 11, 1804 to August 6, 1806 Franz II was the only double Emperor in recorded history.

c. August 11, 1081 or 1086: Birth of Heinrich V, Holy Roman Emperor

Tags

Bertha of Savoy, Henry I of England, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, Investiture Controversy, Matilda of England, Pope Gregory VII, Pope Paschal II

Heinrich V. (c. August 11, 1081 or 1086 – May 23, 1125) was King of the Romans (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ruler by his father, Heinrich IV, in 1098.

Heinrich V was probably born on August 11 in 1081 or 1086. However, only the date of his accolade (Schwertleite) at Easter 1101 can be confirmed. This ceremony usually took place at the age of 15.

There were three children born of Emperor Heinrich IV and his wife Bertha of Savoy (died in 1087).

Bertha of Savoy was a daughter of Count Otto I of Savoy (also called Eudes or Odo; c. 1023 – c. 1057/1060) and his wife Adelaide of Susa (c. 1014/1020 – 1091) from the Arduinici noble family, and as such a member of the Burgundian House of Savoy. She thereby was the sister of Count Peter I of Savoy (d. 1078), Count Amadeus II of Savoy (d. 1080), and Adelaide (d. 1079), consort of the German anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfelden.

Heinrich and his two older siblings, Conrad and Agnes, survived childhood; two other siblings had died early. Heinrich seems to have spent the first years of his life primarily in Regensburg. His mentor was Conrad Bishop of Utrecht.

At the time of Heinrich’s birth, his father, Emperor Heinrich IV, had already been engaged in many years of drawn out conflicts with the pope, the imperial bishops, and secular princes for the preservation of his rule.

Henry IV had never paid much attention to the advice, or the rights and privileges of the landed nobility. Saxony, as the centre of resistance, was joined by the southern duchies of Bavaria, Swabia and Carinthia.

These southern duchies again sought the support of Pope Gregory VII, the chief advocate of church reform ideas. Gregory’s central demand was that the emperor must refrain from investing abbots and bishops, a practice that had been essential for the Imperial Church System since Emperor Otto I.

Gregory VII excommunicated Heinrich IV in 1077. By repenting at Canossa, Heinrich managed to get absolved. In 1080 and 1094, however, Heinrich IV was excommunicated again. In 1102, the church ban was again declared over him and his party, including his son, Heinrich V. The conflict divided the empire from the church.

Heinrich IV therefore sought to strengthen his influence in the south. His daughter, Agnes, was engaged to Friedrich I of Swabia, who in 1079 obtained the Duchy of Swabia.

Friedrich I (c. 1050 – c. July 21, 1105) was Duke of Swabia from 1079 to his death, the first ruler from the House of Hohenstaufen.

The emperor also sought to secure his royal succession. Heinrich IV chose his eldest son, Conrad, to be his heir and arranged to have Conrad crowned king of the Romans in Aachen in 1087. After Conrad defected to the Church Reform Party in Italy in 1093, his royalty and inheritance were revoked at a court in Mainz and transferred to his younger brother, Heinrich V in May 1098.

The latter had to take an oath never to rule over the father. On January 6, 1099, Heinrich V was crowned king of the Romans in Aachen, where he was required to repeat the oath. His brother, Conrad, died in Florence on July 27, 1101.

The continued existence of the Salian dynasty now depended on Heinrich V, the only living son of the emperor. The co-regency of son and father proceeded without obvious problems for six years. Contrary to previous ruling sons, Heinrich V was not involved in government affairs.

In Emperor Heinrich IV’s conflicts with the imperial princes and the struggle against the reform papacy during the Investiture Controversy, young Heinrich V allied himself with the opponents of his father.

He forced Heinrich IV to abdicate on December 31, 1105 and ruled for five years in compliance with the imperial princes. He tried, unsuccessfully, to withdraw the regalia from the bishops and in order to at least preserve the previous right to invest he captured Pope Paschal II and forced him to perform his imperial coronation in 1111.

Once crowned emperor, Heinrich V departed from joint rule with the princes and resorted to earlier Salian autocratic rule. After he had failed to increase control over the church, the princes in Saxony and on the Middle and Lower Rhine, in 1121 the imperial princes forced Heinrich V to consent with the papacy.

Investiture Controversy was an important issues in the reign of Heinrich V and will be addressed in another blog post.

From 1108 on Heinrich V made official proposals for a marriage with a princess of the English royal family, seeking to increase the authority of the Salian king and secure his throne. His engagement with the eight-year-old princess Matilda took place in Utrecht at Easter of 1110.

The Anglo-Norman King Henry I of England paid the extraordinarily high sum of 10,000 or 15,000 pounds of silver as dowry. In return, his daughter’s marriage to Heinrich V enormously increased his prestige.

On July 25, 1110 Matilda was crowned Roman-German Queen in Mainz by the Archbishop of Cologne. Four years later the wedding celebrations also took place in Mainz on January 7, 1114 amid great splendor and the attention of princes from all over the empire.

The Salians appropriated the occasion to reaffirm unanimity with the imperial nobles after the conflicts in recent years. Duke Lothair of Supplinburg appeared barefoot and in penitent clothing at the wedding. He was forgiven for his participation in the inheritance disputes of Carniola after performing a Deditio (submission).

This occasion is the only known case of a Deditio during Heinrich V’s reign, which historians have compared to the amicable set of rules and conflict management and settlement of the Ottonian dynasty.

On the other hand, Heinrich had Count Ludwig of Thuringia captured and imprisoned for his participation in the Saxon rebellion, which upset many princes. Heinrich V’s impertinent demonstrations of power greatly diminished the overall atmosphere of the festivity. Some princes left the festival without permission, as others used the opportunity for conspiracies.

The marriage to Matilda produced no male heirs. The chronicler Hériman of Tournai mentions a child of Heinrich and Matilda that died soon after birth. A single source mentions a daughter of Heinrich named Bertha, who was probably illegitimate. She married Count Ptolemy II of Tusculum in 1117. The emperor’s bond with the nobility of Rome through marriage was unique. In his conflict with the Pope and the struggle for domination in Italy, the Tusculan marriages of imperial partisans would receive particular honor.

Eventually, affairs in Italy compelled Heinrich V to leave and appoint duke Friedrich II of Hohenstaufen and his brother Conrad, the future king Conrad III as administrators.

August 9, 1902: Coronation of Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India

Tags

Alexandra of Denmark, and Emperor of India, Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Temple, coronation, Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions, Koh-i-Noor Diamond, perityphlitis, Westminster Abbey

Edward VII (Albert Edward; November 9, 1841 – May 6, 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from January 22, 1901 until his death in 1910.

The eldest son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and nicknamed “Bertie”, Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe. He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years.

During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

When Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British Dominions. He chose to reign under the name of Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward—the name his mother had intended for him to use—declaring that he did not wish to “undervalue the name of Albert” and diminish the status of his father with whom the “name should stand alone”.

The numeral VII was occasionally omitted in Scotland, even by the national church, in deference to protests that the previous Edwards were English kings who had “been excluded from Scotland by battle”. J. B. Priestley recalled, “I was only a child when he succeeded Victoria in 1901, but I can testify to his extraordinary popularity. He was in fact the most popular king England had known since the earlier 1660s.”

Preparations

The 1838 coronation of Queen Victoria, Edward VII’s mother and predecessor, had been an unrehearsed and somewhat lacklustre event in the Abbey, though the newly extended street procession and celebrations around the country had been a great popular success.

The success of Victoria’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees had created the expectation that Edward’s coronation would be an expression of the nation’s status as a great imperial power. In December 1901, an Executive Coronation Committee was formed, whose leading member, Viscount Esher, worked closely with the King to set the agenda for the event.

Esher had been responsible for organising the Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and was one of the driving forces behind the renewed enthusiasm for royal ceremonial. The position of Director of Music was given to Sir Frederick Bridge, the organist and choirmaster at Westminster Abbey; the first Abbey organist since Henry Purcell to be given that role. Bridge had successfully transformed the quality of music at the Abbey and had directed the music at the Golden Jubilee, for which he had been made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order.

Illness and postponement

By the time of his accession, the 59-year-old Edward was overweight and fond of large meals and cigars. He launched himself into his new role, but his first busy months on the throne were bedevilled by a succession of illnesses and injuries. On June 23, three days before the date set for the coronation, Edward and his wife, Alexandra of Denmark, returned from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace in preparation.

Foreign journalists noted that he appeared “worn and pale” and was leaning heavily on his cane. That evening, the King and Queen hosted a formal dinner for seventy British and overseas royal guests.

On the following day at noon, a telegram marked “OFFICIAL” was dispatched around the Empire, with the news that the coronation was postponed and that the King was undergoing an operation. Shortly afterwards, a bulletin was released from Edward’s medical team, stating that “The King is suffering from perityphlitis.

The condition on Saturday was so satisfactory that it was hoped that with care His Majesty would be able to go through the Coronation ceremonies. On Monday evening a recrudescence became manifest, rendering a surgical operation necessary today”. It was undersigned by, among others, Lord Lister and Sir Frederick Treves, who actually carried out the operation on a table in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace, to drain his abdominal cyst.

On June 26 itself, a “solemn service of intercession” was held at St Paul’s Cathedral, which was attended by many of the British and foreign dignitaries who were in London for the coronation. Although workmen immediately received instructions to begin dismantling the wooden stands that had been erected along the route of the procession, Edward was insistent that regional celebrations and a planned “Coronation Dinner for the Poor of London” should go ahead.

Organized by Sir Thomas Lipton, 500,000 dinners were served to Londoners on July 5 at 800 locations around the capital. The King personally contributed £30,000 towards the cost and there were donations by commercial companies and wealthy individuals. The confectionery maker Rowntree’s provided each diner with a tin of chocolate and a rather better one for the 60,000 people who had acted as stewards, on the grounds that they would “be of greater influence socially than the poor”.

Many people had intended to watch the coronation procession, and rooms along the planned route had been rented out at high rates for the expected day of the coronation. The postponement of the coronation led to many demands for refunds on the rental contracts, resulting in the “Coronation cases”, which set an important precedent in the doctrine of frustration of purpose in the English common law of contract.

The service

he contents of the service itself had been carefully selected to ensure that its spiritual character was maintained, while keeping the ceremony as brief as possible. The draft was mainly the work of Randall Davidson, the Bishop of Winchester.

The service was conducted by the elderly and infirm Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple, who died before the end of the year. He steadfastly refused to delegate any part of his duties and had to be supported throughout by two other bishops. Because of his failing eyesight, the text of the service had to be printed in gigantic type onto rolls of paper called “prompt scrolls”; they are preserved in the Lambeth Palace Library.

Archbishop Temple provided most of the upsets in an otherwise splendid ceremony; he was unable to rise after kneeling to pay homage and had to be helped up by the King himself and several bishops, he placed the crown back-to-front on the King’s head, and when a colleague enquired after his well-being, he was told to “go away!” in a loud voice that was plainly heard by the congregation.

The King also deviated from the order of service; when the Prince of Wales touched the Crown and kissed his father’s left cheek in the traditional gesture of homage, the King rose to his feet and threw his arms around his son’s neck in an unusual display of affection. Another disruption came from the King’s sister, Princess Beatrice, who noisily, albeit accidentally, dropped her service book from the royal gallery onto a gold-plate table.

Because he was still convalescing, Edward had been crowned with the Imperial State Crown instead of the heavier St Edward’s Crown. Alexandra was crowned immediately after her husband by William Dalrymple Maclagan, Archbishop of York, with a new crown containing the Koh-i-Noor diamond.

June 22, 1948: King George VI formally gives up the title “Emperor of India” Part II.

Tags

Delhi Sugar, Dominion of India, Empire of India, Imperial Crown of India, Indian Independence Act 1947, King George V of the United Kingdom, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Pakistan

When Edward VII ascended to the throne on January 22, 1901, he continued the imperial tradition laid down by his mother, Queen Victoria, by adopting the title Emperor of India. Three subsequent British monarchs followed in his footsteps.

The first emperor to visit India was George V. For his imperial coronation ceremony at the Delhi Durbar, the Imperial Crown of India was created. The Crown weighs 920 g (2.03 lb) and is set with 6,170 diamonds, 9 emeralds, 4 rubies, and 4 sapphires. At the front is a very fine emerald weighing 32 carats (6.4 g). The king wrote in his diary that it was heavy and uncomfortable to wear: “Rather tired after wearing my crown for 3+1⁄2 hours; it hurt my head, as it is pretty heavy.”

The title “Emperor of India” did not disappear when British India became the Dominion of India (1947–1950) and Dominion of Pakistan (1947–1952) after independence in 1947.

George VI retained the title until June 22, 1948, the date of a Royal Proclamation made in accordance with Section 7 (2) of the Indian Independence Act 1947, reading: “The assent of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is hereby given to the omission from the Royal Style and Titles of the words “Indiae Imperator” and the words “Emperor of India” and to the issue by His Majesty for that purpose of His Royal Proclamation under the Great Seal of the Realm.”

Thereafter, George VI remained monarch of Pakistan until his death in 1952 and of India until it became the Republic of India in 1950.

April 11, 1689: Coronation of William III and Mary II as Joint Sovereigns of England, Scotland and Ireland

Tags

Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop of London, coronation, Coronation Chair, James II-VII of England, Mary II of England, Mary of Modena, Stone of Destiny, Stone of Scone, William III of Orange, William Sancroft

During the Glorious Revolution of November 1688 James II-VII, king of England, Scotland and Ireland was deposed and replaced by his daughter Mary II and her husband, stadtholder William III of Orange, the de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic. The Glorious Revolution
can be seen as both the last successful invasion of England and also an internal coup that toppled the reigning monarch.

William III, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, Stadtholder of the Netherlands with his Imperial State Crown

The Revolution ended a century of political dispute and strife between the Crown and Parliament by confirming the primacy of Parliament over the Crown, a principle established in the Bill of Rights 1689.

English coronations were traditionally held at Westminster Abbey, with the monarch seated on the Coronation Chair. Main elements of the coronation service and the earliest form of oath can be traced to the ceremony devised by Saint Dunstan for Edgar’s coronation in 973 AD at Bath Abbey. It drew on ceremonies used by the kings of the Franks and those used in the ordination of bishops.

William III and Mary II are the only co-monarchs in English/British history. They’re still the only two people to have been jointly crowned as sovereign rulers. For example, Felipe II of Spain, claimed to rule England and Ireland via the concept Jure uxoris (a Latin phrase meaning “by right of (his) wife”) which describes that a title of nobility is being used by a man because his wife holds the office or title suo jure (“in her own right”).

Mary II, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland with her Imperial State Crown

Despite all laws and statutes being issued jointly in Mary I and Felipe II’s name, Felipe II’s tenure on the throne ended with the death of Mary I in 1558 and he is regarded as a King Consort and not a sovereign in his own right.

Because of their joint rule their 1689 coronation posed a unique problem: the nation only had one set of coronation regalia. The original regalia had been destroyed when the monarchy had been abolished by order of Oliver Cromwell. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1661, a new set of regalia had been made for King Charles II by Sir Robert Viner.

The 1661 crown, called St. Edward’s Crown, would be used by the new King William III, but Queen Mary II — who actually had the better claim to the throne — would need a different set to use. William III of Orange was third in succession to the throne behind his wife Mary and her sister Anne. Anne allowed her place in the succession to be changed in favor of William to inherit the throne.

The consort’s regalia, which had been made in 1685 for Mary’s stepmother, Mary of Modena, was thought to be insufficient because Mary II wasn’t being crowned as a consort, she was a monarch in her own right, and she would need a set of regalia equal to that of her husband.

Coronation Crown of Mary II.

William III and Mary II were proclaimed joint sovereigns on February 1689. With the coronation set for April 11, 1689. The men charged with planning the coronation faced a major time crunch. Since William III and Mary II had gained the throne through revolution their supporters wanted them to be crowned as soon as possible to cement their legitimacy as monarchs.

It was an enormous task. An elaborate ceremony was planned which included a massive number of peers, and even a second wooden coronation chair for Mary had to be constructed and carved. Because of the time pressure, parts of Mary’s regalia ultimately were repurposed from Mary of Modena’s set.

During the portions of the coronation ceremony both William III and Mary II had to wear different crowns. William III was crowned with St. Edward’s Crown; Mary II was simultaneously crowned with Mary of Modena’s coronation crown.

William III also wore the Imperial State Crown made for Charles II in 1661, Mary II wore the state crown made in 1685 by Richard de Beauvoir for Mary of Modena.

That state crown is now on display at the Tower of London. While the state crown of 1685 remains today much as it was when it was made (albeit without the same gemstones), the coronation crown has been significantly altered over the centuries. It’s currently in the collection of the Museum of London, where it is displayed with imitation gemstones.

An interesting note, William Sancroft, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who typically presides over the coronation, refused to do so because he continued to support James II-VII. This fact is particularly ironic.

William Sancroft was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, and was one of the Seven Bishops imprisoned in 1688 for seditious libel against King James II-VII over his opposition to the king’s Declaration of Indulgence. Despite this fact he still supported James II-VII.

Coronation Regalia of William III. The Crown is the 1661 St. George’s Crown

Although Sancroft refused to officiate the coronation of William III and Mary II he was deprived of the office of Archbishop of Canterbury but not for that reason. He was eventually deprived of his office in 1690 for refusing to swear allegiance to William III and Mary II.

In officiating the ceremony Sanford was replaced by the Bishop of London, Henry Compton.

Being crowned by another bishop is something that happened several times in the Middle Ages, but there would often be a second coronation done with the Archbishop of Canterbury of for sake of continuity and because of fears over the illegitimacy of the ceremony.

King Edward’s Chair (or St. Edward’s Chair or the Coronation Chair) has been used for the coronation of English (and British later on) since Edward II, with the exceptions of Edward V and Edward VIII, both of whom were not crowned. Mary II was not crowned in the chair as well. A second chair was constructed before the coronation for Mary to sit in.

Underneath the Coronation Chair sits the Stone of Scone, also called the Stone of Destiny.

William III and Mary II

Various theories and legends exist about the stone’s history prior to its placement in Scone. One legend place the origins of the Stone in Biblical times and identify it as the Stone of Jacob, taken by Jacob from Bethel while on the way to Haran (Genesis 28:10–22). This very same Stone of Jacob was then supposedly taken to ancient Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah.

Historically, the artefact was kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland, having been brought there from Iona by Kenneth MacAlpin circa 841 AD. After its forced removal from Scone during Edward I’s invasion of Scotland in 1296, it was used in the coronation of the monarchs of England as well as the monarchs of Great Britain and latterly of the United Kingdom following the Treaty of Union.

Orb for William III

Orb created for Mary II

Another orb also had to be created for Mary II to match the orb used by William III.

As joint sovereigns Mary II mostly deferred to William III a renowned military leader and principal opponent of Louis XIV, when he was in England. She did, however, act alone when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad, proving herself to be a powerful, firm, and effective ruler. Mary’s death from smallpox at the age of 32 in 1694 left William III as sole ruler until his death in 1702, when he was succeeded by Mary’s sister, Anne.

Was St. Edward’s Crown really destroyed by Oliver Cromwell?

Tags

Alfred the Great, Charles II of England and Scotland, Edward the Confessor, English Civil War, Kingdom of England, Oliver Cromwell, Restoration, St. Edward's Crown

Edward the Confessor wore his crown at Easter, Whitsun, and Christmas. In 1161, he was made a saint, and objects connected with his reign became holy relics. The monks at his burial place of Westminster Abbey claimed that Edward had asked them to look after his regalia in perpetuity for the coronations of all future English kings.

Although the claim is likely to have been an exercise in self-promotion on the abbey’s part, and some of the regalia probably had been taken from Edward’s grave when he was reinterred there, it became accepted as fact, thereby establishing the first known set of hereditary coronation regalia in Europe. A crown referred to as St Edward’s Crown is first recorded as having been used for the coronation of Henry III in 1220, and it appears to be the same crown worn by Edward.

An early description of the crown is “King Alfred’s Crown of gold wire-work set with slight stones and two little bells”, weighing 79.5 ounces (2.25 kg) and valued at £248 in total. It was sometimes called King Alfred’s Crown because of an inscription on the lid of its box, which, translated from Latin, read: “This is the chief crown of the two, with which were crowned Kings Alfred, Edward and others”. However, there is no evidence to support the belief that it dated from Alfred’s time, and in the coronation order it always has been referred to as St Edward’s Crown.

St Edward’s Crown rarely left Westminster Abbey, but when Richard II was forced to abdicate in 1399, he had the crown brought to the Tower of London, where he symbolically handed it to Henry IV, saying “I present and give to you this crown with which I was crowned king of England and all the rights dependent on it”.

The monarchy was restored in 1660 after the English Civil War (1642-1649) and in preparation for the coronation of Charles II, who had been living in exile abroad, a new St Edward’s Crown was supplied by the Royal Goldsmith, Sir Robert Vyner. It was fashioned to closely resemble the medieval crown, with a heavy gold base and clusters of semi-precious stones, but the arches are decidedly Baroque.

In the late 20th century, it was assumed to incorporate gold from the original St Edward’s Crown, as they are almost identical in weight, and no invoice was produced for the materials in 1661. A crown was also displayed at the lying in state of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England from 1653 until 1658. However, it is believed the crown at Cromwell’s lying in state was probably made of gilded base metal such as tin or copper, as was usual in 17th-century England; for example, a crown displayed at the funeral of James VI-I had cost only £5 and was decorated with fake jewels.

On the weight of this evidence, writer and historian Martin Holmes, in a 1959 paper for Archaeologia, concluded that in the time of the Interregnum St Edward’s Crown was saved from the melting pot and that its gold was used to make a new crown at the Restoration.

His theory became accepted wisdom, and many books, including official guidebooks for the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, repeated his claim as fact. In 2008, new research found that a coronation crown and sceptre were made in 1660 in anticipation of an early coronation, which had to be delayed several times.

Last evening I watched a documentary on YouTube called, The History of the British Monarchy Crown Jewels. In the documentary it is said that it is possible that the bottom half of St. Edward’s Crown is the original crown. Evidently there is only a record of a bill for the arches, the monde and the cross and this was due to the fact that the bottom half of the crown already existed and was in fact the original St. Edward’s Crown that had been saved from Cromwell’s destruction.

Coronation Crown of George IV of the United Kingdom

Tags

Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, coronation, Diamond Crown, Jefri Bolkiah, King George IV of the United Kingdom, Prince of Brunei, St. Edward's Crown, State Crown of George I, State Opening of Parliament

Although I have already featured my top 12 Crowns I still will feature other crowns and regalia from time to time.

When King George IV of the United Kingdom was coronated on July 19, 1821 he did not use St. Edward’s Crown for the ceremony, nor did he use the State Crown of George I as had his immediate predecessors; instead he had a new and and extravagantly expensive crown built.

Design

At 40 cm (16 in) tall and decorated with 12,314 diamonds, it was said to make him look like a “gorgeous bird of the east”. The innovative gold and silver frame, created by Philip Liebart of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, had been designed to be almost invisible underneath the diamonds.

A plan to remove the traditional fleurs-de-lis and introduce the rose, thistle and shamrock, the floral emblems of England, Scotland and Ireland, was abandoned following objections by the College of Heralds. As a general rule, the maintenance caps in British crowns are made of crimson or purple velvet, but this crown differed in having a dark blue cap.

Fate

Because of the postponement of George IV’s coronation due to the trial of his wife, Queen Caroline, the final bill for the hiring of the stones came to £24,425. After his coronation, the king was reluctant to part with his new crown, and lobbied the government to buy it outright so he could use it for the annual State Opening of Parliament, but it was too expensive. The crown was dismantled in 1823 and has not been worn by any other monarch since then.

Emptied of its jewels and discarded by the royal family, the crown was loaned to the Museum of London by the Amherst family from 1933 until 1985. It was purchased by Asprey in 1987 and later acquired by Jefri Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei, who presented it to the United Kingdom. It had been valued at £376,000 in 1995 for the purposes of an application to export the crown to the United States.

The application was withdrawn during a review by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art. It is part of the Royal Collection and has been on public display in the Martin Tower at the Tower of London since 1996. Diamonds worth £2 million on loan from De Beers are displayed next to the crown to give visitors an idea of how it looked originally.

Although the frame of the crown is the only part that exists, a bronze cast of the crown was made.

A gilt bronze cast of the crown of George IV. The crown is surmounted by a monde and cross pattée above four half arches springing from four crosses, cast with oak leaves and acorns, interspersed with fleurs de lis and a circlet of foliage; with a purple velvet and ermine cap. The crown has a circular gilt-wood base with a glass dome and blue velvet cover Within the monde of the model is a parchment note giving details of its creation.

It was cast from George IV’s Imperial State Crown or Diamond Crown, supplied by Rundell’s for the coronation of 1821. The crown contained an extraordinary 12,314 diamonds. Although the frame of the original survives among the Crown Jewels, the stones were hired only for the coronation ceremony and were later removed from it. This model therefore gives the full impression of how it would have appeared.

George IV did purchase a bronze life-sized model of his crown for £38, on which the inscription reads: “Cast of the Rich Imperial Diamond Crown with which His Most Sacred Majesty King George IV was crowned on 19 July 1821”.

My Favorite Crown #1: The Imperial State Crown of the United Kingdom.

Tags

Crown of Henry VIII, Crown of St. Edward, Cullinan diamond, Imperial State Crown., King Henry V of England, King Henry VIII of England, King William III of England, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Star of Africa, Stuart Sapphire, Tudor State Crown

The Imperial State Crown is one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and symbolises the sovereignty of the monarch.

 
Queen Victoria wearing the 1838 Imperial State Crown with the Stuart Sapphire in the front.

It has existed in various forms since the 15th century. The current version was made in 1937 and is worn by the monarch after a coronation (St Edward’s Crown having been used to crown the monarch) and used at the State Openings of Parliament.

The crown is adorned with 2,901 precious stones, including the Cullinan II diamond, St Edward’s Sapphire, the Stuart Sapphire, and the Black Prince’s Ruby.
History

Origin

St Edward’s Crown, used to crown English monarchs, was considered to be a holy relic, kept in the saint’s shrine at Westminster Abbey and therefore not worn by monarchs at any other time. Instead, a “great crown” with crosses and fleurs-de-lis, but without arches (an open crown), was a king’s usual headgear at state occasions until the time of Henry V, who is depicted wearing an imperial crown of state with gold arches (a closed crown).

Arches were a symbol of sovereignty, and by this point in history, the king of England was being celebrated as rex in regno suo est imperator – an emperor of his own domain – owing obedience to no one but God, unlike some continental rulers, who owed fealty to more powerful kings or the Holy Roman Emperor.

Replica of the Tudor State Crown of Henry VIII

Henry VII or his son and successor Henry VIII may have commissioned a more elaborate version of the state crown which is first described in detail in an inventory of royal jewels in 1521, and again in 1532, 1550, 1574 and 1597, and was included in a painting by Daniel Mytens of Charles I in 1631.

The Tudor Crown had more pearls and jewels than its medieval predecessor, and the centre petals of each of the fleurs-de-lis had images of Christ, the Virgin Mary and St George. The crown weighed 3.3 kg (7 lb 6 oz) and was set with 168 pearls, 58 rubies, 28 diamonds, 19 sapphires and 2 emeralds. Following the abolition of the monarchy and the execution of Charles I in 1649, the Tudor Crown was broken up by Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum, and its valuable components were sold for £1,100.

Restoration to present day

Upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, a new state crown was made for Charles II by Sir Robert Vyner. About 10 versions of the crown have existed since the restoration. The one made for Queen Victoria in 1838 is the basis for today’s crown. Made by Rundell and Bridge in 1838 using old and new jewels, it had a crimson velvet cap with ermine border and a lining of white silk. It weighed 39.25 troy ounces (43.06 oz; 1,221 g) and was decorated with 1,363 brilliant-cut, 1,273 rose-cut and 147 table-cut diamonds, 277 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 4 rubies, and the Black Prince’s Ruby (a spinel). At the State Opening of Parliament in 1845, the Duke of Argyll was carrying the crown before Queen Victoria when it fell off the cushion and broke. Victoria wrote in her diary, “it was all crushed and squashed like a pudding that had sat down”.

The gems in the crown were remounted for the coronation of George VI in 1937 by Garrard & Co. The crown was adjusted for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, with the head size reduced and the arches lowered by 25 mm (1 inch) to give it a more feminine appearance.
Description

The Imperial State Crown is 31.5 cm (12.4 in) tall and weighs 1.06 kg (2.3 lb), and has four fleurs-de-lis and four crosses pattée, supporting two arches topped by a monde and cross pattée. Its purple velvet cap is trimmed with ermine. The frame is made of gold, silver and platinum, and decorated with 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and 5 rubies.

Imperial State Crown with the Stuart Sapphire in its present location in the back of the crown.

Notable stones are St Edward’s Sapphire on the top cross, reputedly taken from the ring of Edward the Confessor when he was re-interred at Westminster Abbey in 1163, and the Black Prince’s Ruby (a large spinel) on the front cross. In 1909, the 104-carat (21 g) Stuart Sapphire, set in the front of the crown, was moved to the back and replaced by the 317-carat (63 g) Cullinan II. Below the monde hang four pearls, three of which are often said to have belonged to Queen Elizabeth I, but the association is almost certainly erroneous.
Usage

The crown is worn by the monarch on leaving Westminster Abbey at the end of his or her coronation. It is usually also worn at State Openings of Parliament, although Elizabeth II wore a hat in March 1974, June 2017 and December 2019 after snap general elections, and in October 2019 she wore the State Diadem, while the Imperial State Crown was carried beside her.

Usually, it is taken to the Palace of Westminster under armed guard in its own carriage and placed in the Robing Room, where the Queen dons her robes and puts on the crown before giving her speech to Parliament. If a State Opening occurs before a coronation, the crown is placed on a cushion beside the monarch. In 1689, one week after being proclaimed king, William III wore his crown in Parliament to pass the Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689. When not in use, the Imperial State Crown is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.
Gallery

My Favorite Crown #2. St. Edward’s Crown

Tags

coronation, Crown Jewels, Edward the Confessor, English Civil War, King Charles II of England, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Oliver Cromwell, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Regalia, St. Edward's Crown

St Edward’s Crown is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, it has been traditionally used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th century.

The original crown was a holy relic kept at Westminster Abbey, Edward’s burial place, until the regalia was either sold or melted down when Parliament abolished the monarchy in 1649, during the English Civil War.

The present version of St Edward’s Crown was made for Charles II in 1661. It is solid gold, 30 centimetres (12 in) tall, weighs 2.23 kilograms (4.9 lb), and is decorated with 444 precious and semi-precious stones. The crown is similar in weight and overall appearance to the original, but its arches are Baroque.

A stylised image of this crown is used on coats of arms, badges, logos and various other insignia in the Commonwealth realms to symbolise the royal authority of Queen Elizabeth II.

When not in use, St Edward’s Crown is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.

Description

St Edward’s Crown is 22-carat gold, with a circumference of 66 cm (26 in), measures 30 cm (12 in) tall, and weighs 2.23 kg (4.9 lb). It has four fleurs-de-lis and four crosses pattée, supporting two dipped arches topped by a monde and cross pattée, the arches and monde signifying an imperial crown. Its purple velvet cap is trimmed with ermine. It is set with 444 precious and semi-precious stones, including 345 rose-cut aquamarines, 37 white topazes, 27 tourmalines, 12 rubies, 7 amethysts, 6 sapphires, 2 jargoons, 1 garnet, 1 spinel and 1 carbuncle.

Usage

Although it is regarded as the official coronation crown, after 1689, it was not used to crown a monarch for over 200 years. In 1911, the tradition was revived by George V, and all subsequent monarchs (except Edward VIII who was not crowned at all) have been crowned using St Edward’s Crown.

Only six monarchs have been crowned with St Edward’s Crown since the Restoration: Charles II (1661), James II (1685), William III (1689), George V (1911), George VI (1937) and Elizabeth II (1953). Mary II and Anne were crowned with small diamond crowns of their own; George I, George II, George III and William IV with the State Crown of George I; George IV with a large new diamond crown made specially for the occasion; and Queen Victoria and Edward VII chose not to use St. Edward’s Crown because of its weight and instead used the lighter 1838 version of the Imperial State Crown. When not used to crown the monarch, St Edward’s Crown was placed on the altar during the coronation; however, it did not feature at all at the coronation of Queen Victoria.

In heraldry

St Edward’s Crown is widely used as a heraldic emblem of the United Kingdom, being incorporated into a multitude of emblems and insignia. As the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with responsible government, the crown can also symbolise “the sovereignty (or authority) of the monarch.” It can be found on, amongst others, the Royal Cypher; the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom; the Royal Badges of England; and the badges of the police forces of England and Wales, Her Majesty’s Coastguard, the British Army, the Royal Marines, the Royal Air Force and HM Revenue and Customs. It also forms the logo of Royal Mail, the United Kingdom’s postal service. (In Scotland, the Crown of Scotland may appear in place of St Edward’s Crown).
History

Edward the Confessor wore his crown at Easter, Whitsun, and Christmas. In 1161, he was made a saint, and objects connected with his reign became holy relics. The monks at his burial place of Westminster Abbey claimed that Edward had asked them to look after his regalia in perpetuity for the coronations of all future English kings.

Although the claim is likely to have been an exercise in self-promotion on the abbey’s part, and some of the regalia probably had been taken from Edward’s grave when he was reinterred there, it became accepted as fact, thereby establishing the first known set of hereditary coronation regalia in Europe. A crown referred to as St Edward’s Crown is first recorded as having been used for the coronation of Henry III in 1220, and it appears to be the same crown worn by Edward.

Holy relic

An early description of the crown is “King Alfred’s Crown of gold wire-work set with slight stones and two little bells”, weighing 79.5 ounces (2.25 kg) and valued at £248 in total. It was sometimes called King Alfred’s Crown because of an inscription on the lid of its box, which, translated from Latin, read: “This is the chief crown of the two, with which were crowned Kings Alfred, Edward and others”. However, there is no evidence to support the belief that it dated from Alfred’s time, and in the coronation order it always has been referred to as St Edward’s Crown.

St Edward’s Crown rarely left Westminster Abbey, but when Richard II was forced to abdicate in 1399, he had the crown brought to the Tower of London, where he symbolically handed it to Henry IV, saying “I present and give to you this crown with which I was crowned king of England and all the rights dependent on it”.

It was used in 1533 to crown the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, which was unprecedented for a queen consort. In the Tudor period, three crowns were placed on the heads of monarchs at a coronation: St Edward’s Crown, the state crown, and a “rich crown” made specially for the king or queen. After the English Reformation, the new Church of England denounced the veneration of medieval relics and, starting with the coronation of Edward VI in 1547, the significance of St Edward’s Crown as a holy relic was played down in the ceremony.

During the English Civil War, Parliament sold the medieval St Edward’s Crown, regarded by Oliver Cromwell as symbolic of the “detestable rule of kings”.

Restoration

St. Edward’s Crown as it looked at the coronation of James II of England in 1685.

The monarchy was restored in 1660 and in preparation for the coronation of Charles II, who had been living in exile abroad, a new St Edward’s Crown was supplied by the Royal Goldsmith, Sir Robert Vyner. It was fashioned to closely resemble the medieval crown, with a heavy gold base and clusters of semi-precious stones, but the arches are decidedly Baroque.

In the late 20th century, it was assumed to incorporate gold from the original St Edward’s Crown, as they are almost identical in weight, and no invoice was produced for the materials in 1661. A crown was also displayed at the lying in state of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England from 1653 until 1658. On the weight of this evidence, writer and historian Martin Holmes, in a 1959 paper for Archaeologia, concluded that in the time of the Interregnum St Edward’s Crown was saved from the melting pot and that its gold was used to make a new crown at the Restoration.

His theory became accepted wisdom, and many books, including official guidebooks for the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, repeated his claim as fact. In 2008, new research found that a coronation crown and sceptre were made in 1660 in anticipation of an early coronation, which had to be delayed several times. His other regalia were commissioned in 1661 after Parliament increased the budget as a token of their appreciation for the king. The crown at Cromwell’s lying in state was probably made of gilded base metal such as tin or copper, as was usual in 17th-century England; for example, a crown displayed at the funeral of James VI and I had cost only £5 and was decorated with fake jewels.

In 1671, Thomas Blood briefly stole the crown from the Tower of London, flattening it with a mallet in an attempt to conceal it. A new monde was created for the coronation of James II, and for William III the base was changed from a circle to an oval. After the coronation of William III in 1689, monarchs chose to be crowned with a lighter, bespoke coronation crown (e.g., the Coronation Crown of George IV) or their state crown, while St Edward’s Crown usually rested on the high altar.

20th century to present day

Edward VII intended to revive the tradition of being crowned with St. Edward’s Crown in 1902, but on coronation day he was still recovering from an operation for appendicitis, and instead he wore the lighter Imperial State Crown.

Jewels were hired for use in the crown and removed after the coronation until 1911, when it was permanently set with 444 precious and semi-precious stones. Imitation pearls on the arches and base were replaced with gold beads which at the time were platinum-plated. Its band was also made smaller to fit George V, the first monarch to be crowned with St Edward’s Crown in over 200 years, reducing the crown’s overall weight from 82 troy ounces (2.6 kg) to 71 troy ounces (2.2 kg).

It was used to crown his successor George VI in 1937, and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, who adopted a stylised image of the crown for use on coats of arms, badges, logos and various other insignia in the Commonwealth realms to symbolise her royal authority. In these contexts, it replaced the Tudor Crown, which had been instated by Edward VII in 1901. Use of the crown’s image in this way is by permission of the monarch.

On 4 June 2013, St Edward’s Crown was displayed on the high altar in Westminster Abbey at a service to mark the 60th anniversary of Elizabeth II’s coronation, which was the first time it had left the Jewel House at the Tower of London since 1953.