THE IMPERIAL CROWN

Putting a price on the crown is said to be ‘nigh on impossible’, although experts have calculated it to be worth at least £3 billion

The sparkling crown which is currently sitting atop the late Queen Elizabeth II's coffin is quite the spectacle of royal grandeur, as well as being rich with family history. Named the Imperial State Crown, the piece originally dates back to the time of Queen Victoria, although it was redesigned for the coronation of the Queen's father, King George VI, in 1937, and shortened by an inch for Her Majesty's own coronation. The Imperial State Crown is similar in appearance to St. Edward's Crown, which was created for the coronation of Charles II in 1661 after the original was destroyed under Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century, when he ordered the abolition of the monarchy. Sparkling with nearly 3,000 stones, including 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and five rubies, the piece weighs in at a hefty 2.3lbs (1.06kg). Some jewellery experts have estimated it to be worth between £3 billion and £5 billion, with the 317-carat Cullinan II (the diamond at the centre of the piece) alone being estimated at £400 million. That said, several specialists have decided that putting a price on the crown's worth is ‘nigh on impossible’. Royal expert Alastair Bruce has previously stated that the Crown Jewels collection (of which the crown is apart) was beyond monetary value.

The Cullinan II stone was cut from the largest diamond ever recorded (a 3,601-carat stone found in Africa in 1905) and given to Edward VII on his birthday by the government of the Transvaal (present-day South Africa) in 1907. The crown also includes the oldest gem in the royal collection: the Stuart Sapphire, said to have once been set in a ring donned frequently by Edward the Confessor, which sits at the centre of the diamond cross. At the front of the crown, above the central diamond, is the Black Prince's Ruby, a stone thought to have been worn by Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The rim of the crown is lined with fur and purple velvet. During her reign, Queen Elizabeth II wore the crown annually for the State Opening of Parliament as she sat on a golden throne reading out the government's key legislative plans for the year ahead. According to the BBC, in 2018, the sovereign joked about how heavy the piece felt atop her head: 'You can't look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech up, because if you did your neck would break,' explained the monarch. From 2019 onwards, the Queen wore a lighter crown for the ceremony, and by 2021, she wore none at all. Historian and author of The Crown Jewels, Anna Keay, told the BBC: 'It can be quite hard to look at sometimes because of the sheer light that comes off them. It's literally dazzling… visually overpowering': whilst BBC presenter Clive Myrie described seeing the crown close-up as ‘almost unreal […] The clarity of the diamonds is absolutely unbelievable'. The crown is normally kept under guard at the Tower of London, where it is a centrepiece of the Crown Jewels exhibit.