Two crowns will be worn by King Charles
Charles, who acceded to the British throne on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year, will be formally crowned King at a solemn religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London on Saturday. According to the Royal family, three crowns will be used at the King’s coronation. While two will be worn by King Charles, the third will be adorned by Queen Camilla.
The ceremony will begin at 11 am after the royals arrive in the procession from Buckingham Palace and will end around 1 pm.
Here are details of the crowns that will be used today:
St Edward’s Crown:
The first is St Edward’s Crown, which will be put on the King’s head by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the moment of coronation. The crown was made for King Charles II in 1661, as a replacement for the medieval crown which had been melted down in 1649. It was last used in 1953 to crown his mother, Elizabeth II.
The crown, which weighs about 2.2 kg is made up of a solid gold frame set with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, topazes and tourmalines, and has a velvet cap with an ermine band.
Imperial State Crown
At the end of the ceremony, King Charles will exchange St Edwards Crown for the lighter Imperial State Crown. The Imperial State Crown is also used on ceremonial occasions, such as the State Opening of Parliament. It was last at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.
Weighing 1.06 kg and measuring 31.5 centimetres in height, it is set with 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 269 pearls and four rubies. The crown includes the Cullinan II diamond, the second-largest stone cut from the Cullinan diamond, which the Royal Collection Trust says is the largest diamond ever discovered.
Queen Mary’s Crown: The crown has been chosen by The Queen Consort for the Coronation, marking the first instance in modern times of an existing crown being used for the Coronation of the Consort. Ahead of the Coronation, minor changes and additions to Queen Mary’s Crown were undertaken, such as the inclusion of the Cullinan III, IV and V diamonds which were part of Queen Elizabeth II’s personal jewellery collection for many years.
Her crown will not feature an infamous gem, the Kohinoor diamond, a 105.6-carat stone mined in India with a long, disputed history. According to BBC, ”there were concerns about a diplomatic row with India if it had been used” since India has demanded its return.
Earlier, Britain’s royal family revealed a new Twitter emoji based on the crown the monarch will wear at the landmark ceremony.
