Crown Jewels of The United Kingdom - Crowns

Crowns

The collection of Crown Jewels contains various crowns, some of which are used by every Sovereign, others being made personally for Sovereigns or for the Queen's Consort. Typically the crown of a King has a slightly pointed arched top, while that of a Queen has a slightly bowed top.

• St Edward's Crown was made in 1661. Made of gold, its design consists of four crosses pattée and four fleurs-de-lis, with two arches on top. Surmounting the arches is a jewelled cross pattée. The Crown includes 444 precious stones. It is used through most of the coronation ceremony and is said to be made of the melted gold from King Alfred's Crown. It is noted by a number of British monarchs to be extremely heavy and difficult to wear. Queen Elizabeth II opted to use a stylised representation of this crown in images of the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.

• The Imperial State Crown was made in 1937 for King George VI, and was similar to the diamond crown made in 1838 for Queen Victoria. The present Crown is made of gold and includes four crosses pattée and four fleurs-de-lis, with two arches on top, surmounted by a cross pattée. The Crown includes many jewels: 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and five rubies. Among the stones are several famous ones, including the Black Prince's Ruby (actually a spinel) and the Cullinan II diamond, also known as the Lesser Star of Africa. Two of the three pearls dangling from the crown were once worn by Queen Elizabeth I. It is worn after the conclusion of the Coronation ceremony when the monarch leaves Westminster Abbey and at the annual State Opening of Parliament.

• The Imperial Crown of India was created when King George V visited Delhi as Emperor of India. To prevent the pawning of the Crown Jewels, British law prohibited the removal of a Crown Jewel from the country. For this reason, a new crown was made. It has not been used since. The Imperial Crown of India is not a part of the British Crown Jewels, though it is stored with them.

• The George IV State Diadem was made in 1820 for the coronation of King George IV, and was worn during the coronation processions of Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II.

• Queens consort, the wives of Kings, traditionally wore the Crown of Mary of Modena, Queen of King James II. By the beginning of the 20th century, that small crown was in a decrepit state. A new European-style crown, flatter and with more arches than was traditional in British crowns, was manufactured for Queen Alexandra, consort of King Edward VII. A new crown, more akin to traditional British crowns, was manufactured for Queen Mary, consort of King George V, who was crowned in 1911. The final new consort's crown in the 20th century was manufactured for Queen Elizabeth, consort of King George VI, who along with her husband was crowned in 1937. All three consorts' crowns in turn included the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond.

• The Crown of the Queen Mother is the platinum consort crown manufactured for, and worn by, Queen Elizabeth, the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the queen consort of King George VI at their coronation in Westminster Abbey in 1937. It is the first crown for a British consort to be made of platinum. The crown was made by Garrard & Co in London, the long term manufacturer of British royal crowns, and modelled partially on the design of the Crown of Queen Mary, the crown of Mary of Teck, wife of King George V. It consists of four half-arches, in contrast to the eight half-arches of Queen Mary's crown. As with Queen Mary's crown, its arches were detachable at the cross-pattee, allowing Elizabeth to wear the crown as a circlet. The crown is decorated with precious stones, most notably the 105-carat (21 g) Koh-i-Noor diamond in the middle of the front cross (the diamond was most recently looted by the East India Company and became part of the British Crown Jewels when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877.). It also contains the Lahore Diamond (22.48 carats) from the Treasury of Lahore given to Queen Victoria by the East India Company in 1851 and a 17-carat (3.4 g) diamond given to Queen Victoria by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in 1856. After the death of her husband, Queen Elizabeth (known thereafter as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) ceased to wear the full crown, but wore it minus the arches as a circlet at the coronation of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It rested on top of the Queen Mother's coffin during her funeral in 2002. The crown is now on display along with the other British Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.