December 19, 2021
The longest-reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II has an impressive collection of jewels and crowns, one of which is the St Edward’s Crown, which is used for royal coronations.
The Crown Jewels are made up of some of the most precious items of jewellery in the world. St Edward’s Crown is the crown that is used at the moment of coronation. It is a highly decorated piece with hundreds of gems, and worth huge sum.
It was originally made for Charles II back in 1661, as a replacement for the medieval crown which reportedly had been melted down in 1649 by the Parliamentarians, according to express.co.uk.
The second version of the crown was commissioned from the Royal Goldsmith, Robert Vyner, in 1661. It is not an exact replica of the original medieval design, but it follows it as it has four crosses-pattée and four fleurs-de-lis, and two arches.
It has a solid gold frame set with semi-precious stones, including rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, topazes and tourmalines. The crown also has a velvet cap with an ermine band.
It is a part of The Crown Jewels collection which has been sitting in the Tower of London for over 600 years. Each year, the collection attracts over 30 million visitors - they are arguably the most visited objects in Britain.
A coronation crown is a crown used by a monarch when being crowned. In some monarchies, monarchs have or had a number of crowns for different occasions, such as a coronation crown for the moment of coronation and a state crown for general usage in state ceremonial.