The Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, also known as The Queen Mother's Crown, is the crown made for
Queen Elizabeth to wear at
her coronation alongside her husband,
King George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
, in 1937 and
State Openings of Parliament
The State Opening of Parliament is a ceremonial event which formally marks the beginning of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It includes a speech from the throne known as the King's (or Queen's) Speech. The event takes place ...
during her husband's reign. The crown was made by
Garrard & Co
Garrard & Co. Limited, formerly Asprey & Garrard Limited, designs and manufactures luxury jewellery and silver. George Wickes founded Garrard in London in 1735 and the brand is headquartered at Albemarle Street in Mayfair, London. Garrard also h ...
., the
Crown Jeweller
The Crown Jeweller is responsible for the maintenance of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, and is appointed by the British monarch. The current Crown Jeweller is Mark Appleby, who was appointed in 2017.
History
The post was created in 1843 ...
at the time, and is modelled partly on the design of the
Crown of Queen Mary
The Crown of Queen Mary is the consort crown made for Mary of Teck in 1911.
Mary bought the Art Deco-inspired crown from Garrard & Co. herself, and hoped that it would be worn by future queens consort. It is unusual for a British crown because ...
, though it differs by having four
half-arches instead of eight. As with Queen Mary's Crown, its arches are detachable at the
crosses pattée, allowing it to be worn as a
circlet
A circlet is a piece of headwear that is similar to a diadem or a corolla. The word 'circlet' is also used to refer to the base of a crown or a coronet, with or without a cap. Diadem and circlet are often used interchangeably, and 'open crowns' wi ...
or open crown. It is the only crown for a British king or queen to be made of platinum.
Styling
The crown is decorated with about 2,800 diamonds, most notably the
Koh-i-Noor
The Koh-i-Noor ( ; from ), also spelled Kohinoor and Koh-i-Nur, is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing . It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The diamond is currently set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Q ...
in the middle of the front cross, which was acquired by the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
after the
Anglo-Sikh Wars and presented to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
in 1851,
and a Turkish diamond given to her in 1856 by
Abdülmecid I
Abdulmejid I ( ota, عبد المجيد اول, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, tr, I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the r ...
, sultan of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, as a gesture of thanks for British support in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
.
The Koh-i-Noor became a part of the Crown Jewels when it was left to
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
upon Victoria's death in 1901. It had been successively mounted in the crowns of
Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...
and
Queen Mary before it was transferred to The Queen Mother's Crown.
Usage
After the death of the king, Queen Elizabeth, known thereafter as the Queen Mother, did not wear the full crown, but wore it minus the arches as a circlet at the
coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...
of her daughter,
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
, in 1953.
It was placed on top of the Queen Mother's coffin for her
lying-in-state and
funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
in 2002.
The crown is on public display along with the other Crown Jewels in the
Jewel House
The Jewel House is a vault housing the British Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, Crown Jewels in the Waterloo Block (formerly a barracks) at the Tower of London. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994 and refurbished in 2012. Regalia ...
at the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
.
In September 2022, it was speculated that
Queen Camilla
Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the a ...
will be
crowned with this crown, although there has been speculation that a different crown might be used due to controversy around the Koh-i-Noor after the Indian government said that Camilla wearing the diamond would evoke "painful memories of the colonial past".
See also
*
List of British coronations
This is a list by date of coronations of British monarchs since 1066.
Kings and queens of England (1066–1603)
All took place in Westminster Abbey unless otherwise noted.
Kings and queens of Scotland (843–1651)
Kings and queens of Englan ...
References
External links
*
{{Crowns
1937 works
Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother