The curiosities about the jewels of the English Crown take us to a world of luxury, stories, anecdotes, intrigues and passions, typical of a film; so we are sure that, when reading these lines, you will feel the interest of knowing those details that surround the existence of these pieces; whose history goes back about 1000 years ago. However, there are many times that this collection has changed over the centuries, because the royal family has repeatedly found themselves in need of pawning their jewels to face battles and wars against their enemies.
This historical process of wars has led to the use of funds to rebuild palaces and other destroyed infrastructure, as well as to pay dowries; So the English Crown jewellery collection has been forced to change. For example, During the Middle Ages, the monarchs were in need of pawning some jewels, in order to feed the soldiers.
One of the curious facts about the jewels of the English Crown is the existence of a royal chest that contained a diamond the size of an eggplant; which had about 3,106 carats weighing 638 grams; Nothing despicable, considering that this happened a century ago. This diamond was called “Cullinan” and was found in 1905 in Pretoria, South Africa; that by then it was a colony of the British empire; So it was taken to Buckingham Palace and cut to form a set of gems that are now known as the “Stars of Africa”.
Currently the diamond “Star of Africa I”, that is part of this set of gems, and that is the size of an egg; weighing 103 grams and 530.2 carats, it is part of the royal sceptre that takes the day of the coronation ceremony, each new British monarch; while the “Star of Africa II”, with 63 grams of weight and 317.4 carats, is sometimes used as a pin, by some members of the royal family.
If we go back to 1830, we find an eccentricity of King William IV; who insisted that every pearl, ruby or sapphire that was available, should be present in his crown; which he achieved, but the precious jewel was so heavy, that this monarch began to suffer from a horrible pain in his neck and teeth; reason why the ceremony of its coronation had to be interrupted, so that they could extract the molar to the demanding king.
Another interesting story about the jewels of the English Crown, is what happened around the changes in some pieces, such as the sapphire of a ring belonging to the King Edward, “The Confessor”, it is located in the top of the crown that Queen Elizabeth II takes during the opening of Parliament every November; which is called “Imperial State Crown”, and that apart from the sapphire of King Edward, who died in the eleventh century, wears the headbands of the necklace of Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scotland; which fell when she was beheaded in 1587.
On the other hand, the magical and luxurious world of royalty has made the English Crown jewellery set, has increased over the years, thanks to the existence of characters such as Queen Victoria, who was an ambitious collector, and filled her chests with jewels from the spoils of the countries or regions that her empire was conquering; within which were the Hindu diamond “Kohinoor”, 38 grams of weight and 186 carats, which today is part of the 2,800 diamonds that the crown of Queen Elizabeth, mother of Prince Charles, possesses.
But not everything that is part of the jewels of the English Crown, are crowns, necklaces or brooches, because in the official inventory of the British royalty there are also somewhat eccentric objects, such as the luxurious official tableware of the queen; which includes the so-called “Grand Punch Bowl”, which is a piece of gold, which has the measures of a bathtub, with a capacity for 110 litres of champagne; where Queen Victoria used to baptize her children. Without a doubt, a curious, expensive and eccentric object like many things of the characters of royalty.
Undoubtedly there are many curious and interesting details that we could talk about, which describe the characteristics of families that for centuries have been the emblematic characters of England, who for a long time fought a great number of battles to conquer lands and power, stripping the natives of their assets and treasures, which in the end were part of the great jewels and resources of the English crown.
ALFA