Just like the the monarchs themselves, the crown jewels
have been a very important part of English tradition for centuries - although
the pieces you can see today are not the same as those from the Middle Ages. In
1303 – when King Edward I was busy fighting the Scots in the North – the Royal
Treasury, then in Westminster Abbey, was broken into by a man known as Richard
of Pudlicott. He stole 100,000 pounds’ worth of treasure, almost twice as much
as the annual income of England. And the best bit? None of it was ever
recovered. The original crown jewels are still out there, and no one knows
where.
After that, as you might expect, the Jewel House was moved
to the Tower of London, where today’s jewels still lie. The Tower’s first Jewel
House was probably built by Henry III, and although the purpose of the jewels was
mainly to make the monarchs look more powerful, and to be brought out at
coronations and other royal events, they were also used to make the monarch
richer. When the country was struggling moneywise, the monarch at the time
would simply sell three or four pieces in order to keep up their luxurious
lifestyle of wining and dining and dancing and general merrymaking. But likely
as this sounds, it wasn’t the only reason for selling the jewels.
“So how did they pay for war?” you might ask. They just
sold some more of the crown jewels, of course – Henry V had to sell nearly all
of them to pay for the Hundred Years War (in the 14th and 15th
centuries) with the French, including the Battle of Agincourt famously won by
the English (“for Harry, England and Saint George!”) So once again, we were
left with not many jewels in the Treasury - and after they were slowly
replaced, guess what? They were all destroyed. Or nearly all.
In 1649, Oliver Cromwell had all the Regalia (the posh
royal name for the jewels) destroyed – all except for three swords and the
Anointing Spoon, which dates from the 12th Century, and was last used
in 1953 to anoint Elizabeth II with holy oil.
As
a result, most of what you can see today was ordered by Charles II after the
restoration in 1661 – costing £13,000 then, but worth millions today. Perhaps
one of the most well-known is the Imperial State Crown, remade for the
coronation of George VI in 1937. It contains over 3000 gems, most from the old
Imperial Crown. It contains jewels like the 2nd Star of Africa; a
humongous diamond cut from an even bigger diamond found in, you guessed it,
Africa. It’s regularly seen at the State opening of Parliament each spring, and
is placed on the monarch’s head at the end of the coronation ceremony, but
that’s not the only thing he (or she) receives…
Coronation Crown Jewels:
· - St Edward’s Crown: Used at the actual moment of coronation
by the Archbishop of Canterbury (very important in the Church of England – look
what happened last time our monarch was Catholic! Hint: it was Mary I). The crown
is solid gold, weighs an impressive 2.23kg, and contains sapphires, amethysts,
topazes…I could go on. It was named after the medieval king, Saint Edward the
Confessor, and was once considered a holy relic.
· - The Ampulla: This is a golden flask which contains
the Holy Oil used to bless the monarch (with the Anointing Spoon!). It’s shaped
like an eagle, so provided it doesn’t acquire holy powers and take off, we
should be alright…
· - Sovereign’s Orb: That’s right, it’s the golden ball
that’s in all the coronation pictures of Liz II. It represents ‘Christ’s
supremacy over the world’, hence the roundness, I guess.
· - Sovereign’s Sceptre: The stick with the cross on
that’s in all the pictures. And do you remember how the Imperial Crown has the
second Star of Africa in? Well, this gold walking stick contains the first,
which is an immense 530 carats (your mum’s diamond ring is almost certainly
less than 1). The sceptre itself has been around since 1661, but the diamond
wasn’t added until 1910.
· - Sceptre with Dove: Representing equality and mercy,
this golden walking stick has a dove on it, believe it or not!
There’s also another load, which aren’t used for the
coronation, but are still pretty important:
· - The Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: this
crown was made for Queen Elizabeth, wife of George VI, for the coronation in
1937. It’s set with the massive Koh-i-Nûr diamond, confiscated (like when your
horrible History teacher takes your phone) from the Sikh Empire by British
people in 1850, and given to Queen Victoria as a present. Legend tells that the
Koh-i-Nûr can only be worn by a queen or queen consort (the wife of a king),
and will bring bad luck and misfortune on any man who tries to wear it.
· - Queen Victoria’s Small Diamond Crown: This was made
in 1870 as an alternative to the Imperial State Crown, which really is very
heavy! It’s made up of 1187 diamonds, ALL of which came from a necklace owned
by the queen. In fact, she wore it so often that it was on her coffin at her
funeral, instead of one of the larger crowns.
So next time you’re in the Tower, go and see the Crown
Jewels – but don’t try and steal them! And keep an eye out for that illusive
medieval treasure, because who knows, it could be anywhere…
~ Tess
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