The Coronet of Charles, Prince of Wales is a small crown that is part of the Honours of Wales. The gold

coronet In British heraldry, a coronet is a type of crown that is a mark of rank of non-reigning members of the royal family and peers. In other languages, this distinction is not made, and usually the same word for ''crown'' is used irrespective of ra ...

, with diamonds set in platinum, was made for and used by King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

at his investiture as

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

in 1969. Designed by the artist Louis Osman, the coronet was a gift from the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths to the Prince's mother,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. It has been described as modern but its form is traditional. The coronet is on permanent display 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 citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

Background

When the former

King Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

went into

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

as the

Duke of Windsor Duke of Windsor was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 8 March 1937 for the former monarch Edward VIII, following his Abdication of Edward VIII, abdication on 11 December 1936. The Duchy, dukedom takes its name from ...

in 1936 following his

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...

, he took with him the Coronet of George, Prince of Wales – a highly controversial act. This coronet had been specially created for

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

, when Prince of Wales, and he wore it at his father's coronation in 1902. George's son, Edward, when Prince of Wales, wore it at the coronation of his father in 1911. In 1969, it was judged impractical to charge the ex-king with effectively stealing the coronet, which would be returned to the United Kingdom after his death in 1972. Since the 1902 coronet was unavailable, and the Coronet of Frederick, Prince of Wales, was judged unusable due to its age, a new coronet had to be made for the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales. He had been created Prince of Wales in 1958 but the formal investiture ceremony was held a few months before his 21st birthday. Today, the coronets of Frederick and George are part of the

Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, originally the Crown Jewels of England, are a collection of royal ceremonial objects kept in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, which include the coronation regalia and vestments worn by British mo ...

on display at the

Design

The coronet follows the form laid down by King Charles II in 1677 by having just one arch rather than the traditional two arches or four half-arches of British monarchs' crowns to show that the Prince of Wales is inferior to the monarch but outranks the other royal princes and

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

s. Though based on this traditional design, the coronet has a

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

look that was popular in the 1960s, and it was created by the eccentric designer Louis Osman. In the centre of the arch is a monde (which is actually a gold-plated

ping-pong Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

ball) engraved with the Prince of Wales's insignia by Malcolm Appleby, surmounted by a plain cross. Orbiting the monde are thirteen square diamonds set in platinum arranged as the constellation of Scorpio – the Prince of Wales's star sign. Within the 24-carat textured gold base is a purple

velvet Velvet is a type of woven fabric with a dense, even pile (textile), pile that gives it a distinctive soft feel. Historically, velvet was typically made from silk. Modern velvet can be made from silk, linen, cotton, wool, synthetic fibers, silk ...

cap lined with ermine. Around the base are four crosses and four abstract fleurs-de-lis in 22-carat gold (mined in the Mawddach Valley in

Merionethshire Merionethshire, or Merioneth ( or '), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. Name 'Merioneth' is a ...

, it was the last

Welsh gold Welsh gold is gold found in natural geological deposits in two distinct areas of Wales in the United Kingdom. It has been prized for its origin and scarcity, particularly by members of the British royal family. It is not a unique material subst ...

held in stock by Johnson Matthey) sparsely decorated with diamonds and

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

s. The diamonds on the base represent the

seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins (also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins) function as a grouping of major vices within the teachings of Christianity. In the standard list, the seven deadly sins according to the Catholic Church are pride, greed ...

and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. In total, the coronet has 75 diamonds and 12 emeralds – white and green being the national colours of Wales – and weighs . It measures tall and in diameter at the widest point. When Osman unveiled the coronet in London, he described it as "something that is modern".

Manufacture

The frame was made by

electroplating Electroplating, also known as electrochemical deposition or electrodeposition, is a process for producing a metal coating on a solid substrate through the redox, reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct current, direct electric cur ...

gold onto the inside of an

epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or Curing (chemistry), cured end products of epoxy Resin, resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide fun ...

resin cast. B. J. S. Electroplating Co., a precious-metal electroformer's, was commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths to make a

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...

-reinforced

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...

mould of a wax model of the coronet that Louis Osman had made using a wooden template. From this mould a negative epoxy resin cast was produced. B. J. S. involved Engelhard Industries to assist in the

electroforming Electroforming is a metal forming process in which parts are fabricated through electrodeposition on a model, known in the industry as a mandrel. Conductive (metallic) mandrels are treated to create a mechanical parting layer, or are chemicall ...

of the cast. David Mason was Head of Research at Engelhard and was assigned the task of doing the electroforming at the company's headquarters in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

. Until then, electroforming an object of that size had never been attempted anywhere in the world, and it was the first crown to be made in this way.

Usage

The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths presented the coronet to Queen Elizabeth II for the investiture, which was held at

Caernarfon Castle Caernarfon Castle (; ) is a medieval fortress in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The first fortification on the site was a motte-and-bailey castle built in the late 11th century, which King Edward I of England began to replace with the current st ...

on 1 July 1969. Coronets of Princes of Wales have been rarely used. The Coronet of Frederick, Prince of Wales was never actually worn by Frederick; and the Coronet of George, Prince of Wales was only worn rarely by George, later George V, and by

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

, later Edward VIII. Charles, later Charles III, did not wear his coronet except at his his investiture; the coronet was carried before him when he took his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

in 1970. The coronet was loaned to the National Museum and Gallery of Wales in Cardiff by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974. It was placed into storage at

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, England. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster. Although no longer the principal residence ...

, London in 2011. The coronet and rod were both put on permanent display in the

at the

in 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coronet Of Charles, Prince Of Wales Charles III

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...