Imperial State Crown

The Imperial State Crown is one of the Crown Jewels and broke. Victoria wrote in her diary, it was all crushed
of the United Kingdom and symbolises the sovereignty and squashed like a pudding that had sat down.[10]
of the monarch. It has existed in various forms since the
The gems in the crown were remounted for the coronation
15th century. The current version was made in 1937 and of George VI in 1937 by Garrard & Co.[11] The crown
is worn by the monarch after a coronation ceremony (St
was adjusted for Queen Elizabeth IIs coronation in 1953,
Edwards Crown having been used to crown the monarch) with the head size reduced and the arches lowered by 25
and during his or her speech at the annual State Opening mm (1 inch) to give it a more feminine appearance.[12]
of Parliament. It contains 2,901 precious stones, includ-
ing Cullinan II the second-largest clear cut diamond in
the world.

1 History 2 Description
St Edwards Crown, used to crown English monarchs, was
considered to be a holy relic,[2] kept in the saints shrine at The Imperial State Crown is 31.5 cm (12.4 in) tall and
Westminster Abbey and therefore not worn by monarchs weighs 1.06 kg (2.3 lb), and has four eurs-de-lis and four
at any other time. Instead, a great crown with crosses crosses patte, supporting two arches topped by a monde
and eurs-de-lis, but without arches (an open crown), was and cross patte. Its purple velvet cap is trimmed with
a kings usual headgear at state occasions until the time of ermine. The frame is made of gold, silver and platinum,
Henry V, who is depicted wearing an imperial crown of and decorated with 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sap-
state with gold arches (a closed crown).[3] Arches were a phires, 11 emeralds, and 5 rubies.[13]
symbol of sovereignty, and by this point in history, the
Notable stones are St Edwards Sapphire on the top cross,
king of England was being celebrated as rex in regno suo
reputedly taken from the ring of Edward the Confessor
est imperator an emperor of his own domain owing
when he was re-interred at Westminster Abbey in 1163,
obedience to no one but God, unlike some continental
and the Black Princes Ruby (a large spinel) on the front
rulers, who owed fealty to more powerful kings or the
cross. In 1909, the 104-carat (21 g) Stuart Sapphire, set
Holy Roman Emperor.[4]
in the front of the crown, was moved to the back and re-
Henry VII or his son and successor Henry VIII may placed by the 317-carat (63 g) Cullinan II the second-
have commissioned a more elaborate version of the state largest clear cut diamond in the world. Three of the pearls
crown which is rst described in detail in an inventory of belonged to Elizabeth I.[14]
royal jewels in 1521, and again in 1532, 1550, 1574 and
1597, and was included in a painting by Daniel Mytens of
Charles I in 1631.[5] The Tudor Crown had more pearls
and jewels than its medieval predecessor, and the centre
petals of each of the eurs-de-lis had images of Christ,
the Virgin Mary and St George.[6] The crown weighed
3.3 kg (7 lb 6 oz) and was set with 168 pearls, 58 rubies,
3 Usage
28 diamonds, 19 sapphires and 2 emeralds.[7][8] Follow-
ing the abolition of the monarchy and the execution of The crown is worn by the monarch on leaving West-
Charles I in 1649, the Tudor Crown was broken up and minster Abbey at the end of his or her coronation cer-
its valuable components sold for 1,100.[7] emony.[15] It is also worn at the annual State Opening of
Upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, a new Parliament. Usually, the crown is taken to the Palace of
state crown was made for Charles II by Sir Robert Vyner. Westminster under armed guard in its own carriage and
About 10 versions of the crown have existed since the placed in the Robing Room, where Queen Elizabeth II
restoration.[9] The one made for Queen Victoria in 1838 dons her robes and puts on the crown before giving her
is the basis for todays crown. At the State Opening of speech to Parliament. When not in use, it is on public
Parliament in 1845, the Duke of Argyll was carrying the display with the rest of the Crown Jewels in the Jewel
crown before Queen Victoria when it fell o the cushion House at the Tower of London.

1
2 5 REFERENCES

4 Gallery

Back of the crown in 2012

The front of George Is State

Crown, 1714
5 References

[1] Crown Jewels. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 211.

United Kingdom: House of Commons. 16 July 1992. col.
944W.

[2] Hoak, p. 59.

[3] John Steane (2003). The Archaeology of the Medieval En-

glish Monarchy. Routledge. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-134-
Queen Victorias crown 64159-8.
made in 1838
[4] Hoak, pp. 55, 63.

[5] Edward Francis Twining (1960). A History of the Crown

Jewels of Europe. Batsford. p. 139.

[6] Jennifer Loach; G. W. Bernard; Penry Williams (1999).

Edward VI. Yale University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-
300-07992-0.

[7] Arthur Jeeries Collins (1955). Jewels and Plate of Queen

The version worn by George V Elizabeth I: The Inventory of 1574. Trustees of the British
Museum. p. 266.

[8] Oliver Millar, ed. (1972). The Inventories and Valuations

of the Kings Goods, 164951. Walpole Society. p. 43.
ISBN 095023740X.

[9] Mears; Thurley; Murphy, p. 29.

[10] Crown Jewels factsheet (PDF). Historic Royal Palaces

Agency. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
George V wearing the crown in
1911 [11] Heritage. Garrard & Co. Archived from the original on
25 September 2013.

[12] Keay, Anna (2011). The Crown Jewels: The Ocial Illus-
trated History. Thames & Hudson. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-
500-51575-4.

[13] The Imperial State Crown. Royal Collection. 31701.

[14] Mears; Thurley; Murphy, p. 30.

Elizabeth II after her coronation [15] The Royal Household. The Royal Collection: The Crown
in 1953 Jewels. The Ocial Website of the British Monarchy.
Archived from the original on 8 October 2015.
 3

6 Bibliography
Kenneth J. Mears; Simon Thurley; Claire Murphy
(1994). The Crown Jewels. Historic Royal Palaces.
ASIN B000HHY1ZQ.

Dale Hoak (2002). Tudor Political Culture. Cam-

bridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-52014-0.

7 External links
The Imperial State Crown. Royal Collection.
31701.
The Crown Jewels at the Royal Family website
4 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text
Imperial State Crown Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_State_Crown?oldid=774081770 Contributors: Bryan Derksen, Jt-
dirl, Jengod, RodC, Lord Emsworth, PBS, Fabiform, BenFrantzDale, Bobblewik, Yath, Quadell, Longhair, JW1805, Man vyi, TheP-
aranoidOne, Minority Report, LordAmeth, Deror avi, Kenyon, Angr, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), SchuminWeb, YurikBot, Witan,
NCrane, Clam0p, Sylvain1972, FClef, Ohnoitsjamie, Thumperward, Davidmpye, Jaywubba1887, TheHYPO, Iridescent, 038DBATC,
Dancheng, Gavin Compton, Hemlock Martinis, Cydebot, Aricci526, Lo2u, CSvBibra, Astynax, Oreo Priest, David Liuzzo, AMittel-
man, MECU, Textorus, Johnbod, Viciousbadger, Ragemanchoo, Zoe Buchanan, BotKung, Haja maideen, Legoktm, WereSpielChe-
quers, VVVBot, Editore99, Cameron, Myrvin, ImageRemovalBot, Romit3, BOTarate, John Paul Parks, XLinkBot, Jovianeye, Dlpkbr,
Alansplodge, FactStraight, Addbot, Alanscottwalker, Luckas-bot, Yobot, AnomieBOT, Xqbot, Sodacan, Almabot, GrouchoBot, Free-
KnowledgeCreator, FrescoBot, Guinevere1, Dhtwiki, Overroads, RedBot, Primaler, Lady Meg, EmausBot, ZroBot, ChuispastonBot,
BG19bot, Krenair, RThompson82, Mrandrewnohome, Dnalor 01, Pomdotcom, Glenmeister, Emanuelito martinez, Firebrace, GreenC bot,
Bender the Bot and Anonymous: 29

8.2 Images
File:Back_of_the_Imperial_State_Crown.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Back_of_the_
Imperial_State_Crown.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: https://www.flickr.com/photos/80682694@N05/7601001814/ Original
artist: Adam Storey
File:Elizabeth_II_&_Philip_after_Coronation.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Elizabeth_II_
%26_Philip_after_Coronation.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: http://data2.archives.ca/e/e092/e002282631.jpg Original artist:
Cecil Beaton
File:ImperialStateCrown.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/ImperialStateCrown.jpg License: Public
domain Contributors: G. Younghusband; C. Davenport (1919). The Crown Jewels of England. London: Cassell & Co. p. 6. Original artist:
Cyril Davenport (1848 1941)
File:Imperial_State_Crown_-_Seitenansicht_von_unten.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/
Imperial_State_Crown_-_Seitenansicht_von_unten.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: (removed by user
request)
File:Imperial_State_Crown_of_George_I.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Imperial_State_
Crown_of_George_I.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: British Museum art collection Original artist: Bernard Lens III
File:Imperial_State_Crown_of_Queen_Victoria.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Imperial_State_
Crown_of_Queen_Victoria.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Royal Collection no. 630740 Original artist: 'British School' [1]
File:KingGeorgeV_QueenMary_Coronation1911.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/
KingGeorgeV_QueenMary_Coronation1911.png License: Public domain Contributors: From the book: J. Hogarth Milne (c.
1914). Great Britain in the Coronation Year. London: W.H. Allen & Co. Frontispiece. Original artist: Photograph signed Emery Walker
PhD (1851 1933)
File:Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg License:
LGPL Contributors: http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/gnome-themes-extras/0.9/gnome-themes-extras-0.9.0.tar.gz Original
artist: David Vignoni / ICON KING
File:Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_(Both_Realms).svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/4/47/Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_%28Both_Realms%29.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own
work Original artist: Sodacan

8.3 Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0