Photo: Justin Tallis - WPA Pool/Getty Images; Alamy Stock Photo
Queen Camilla’scoronation crownhas been revealed — and it won’t feature the divisive Koh-i-Nûr diamond.
The choice avoids the Koh-i-Nûr diamond, a staggering 105.6-carat stone believed to be one of the world’s largest cut diamonds. The diamond was featured in theQueen Mother’s coronation crown, which she wore to the 1937 coronation of her husband,King George VI, and the 1953 coronation of her daughter,Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen Mother with Princess Elizabeth on her Coronation Day in 1937.Daily Herald Archive/National Science & Media Museum/SSPL via Getty
It has remained in the royal vault ever since, despite periodic calls for it to be returned to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which have all made ownership claims.
“Opposing legends have maintained that the diamond is both lucky and unlucky,” Historical Royal Palaces states.
The Queen Mother, Prince Charles and Princess Margaret.Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
As plans for the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla began to take shape in the fall, it was speculated that the Queen Consortmight wearthe Queen Mother’s coronation crown for the religious ritual. Charles, 74, wasvery closeto his grandmother, and reports swirled that the regal headpiece had always been earmarked for Camilla.
Calling back to the Koh-i-Nûr diamond’s problematic past, a source from the Bharatiya Janata Party in India toldThe Telegraphin October, “The coronation of Camilla and the use of the crown jewel Koh-i-Nûr brings back painful memories of the colonial past.”
“Most Indians have very little memory of the oppressive past. Five to six generations of Indians suffered under multiple foreign rules for over five centuries,” the source said. “The coronation of the new Queen Camilla and the use of the Koh-i-Nûr do transport a few Indians back to the days of the British Empire in India.”
Hulton Archive/Getty Images; De Agostini via Getty Images
Queen Mary’s coronation crownoriginally usedthe Koh-i-Nûr diamond for the 1911 coronation, as did Queen Alexandra’s crown for the coronation of 1902, according to theRoyal Collection Trust.
When the Queen Mother had her crown commissioned for the coronation of 1937, she had the giant diamond removed from Queen Mary’s crown for her own, as her mother-in-law did before her.
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Instead of using the Koh-i-Nûr diamond on the headpiece, Queen Camilla’s crown is currently undergoing work to set theCullinan III, IVand V diamonds that were part ofQueen ElizabethII’s jewelry collection. The late monarch often wore them as brooches.
According to theRoyal Collection Trust, the Cullinan Diamond was found in South Africa in 1905.
The diamond was cut into nine pieces, which were numbered. King George V had Cullinan I and II set in theSovereign’s SceptreandImperial State Crown, where the stones remain today. The Imperial State Crown, Sovereign’s Sceptre and Sovereign’s Orb were allused during the September 2022 funeral of Queen Elizabeth.
The imperial State Crown.TOBY MELVILLE/AFP via Getty
source: people.com
