King Charles III’s great-grandmother Queen Mary was the wife of King George VI. Born Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, she married the then Prince George in 1893, before reigning alongside her husband from 1910 until his death in 1936.
Mary has returned to public consciousness of late following confirmation from Buckingham Palace back in February that Queen Camilla would wear her predecessor’s crown when crowned alongside her husband at their coronation.
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An announcement from the palace on February 14 revealed, “Queen Mary’s Crown has been removed from display at the Tower of London for modification work ahead of the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort on Saturday, May 6, 2023. Queen Mary’s Crown will be used for the Coronation of The Queen Consort at Westminster Abbey.”
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It continued, “The choice of Queen Mary’s Crown by Her Majesty is the first time in recent history that an existing crown will be used for the Coronation of a Consort instead of a new commission being made, in the interests of sustainability and efficiency. Some minor changes and additions will be undertaken by the Crown Jeweler, in keeping with the longstanding tradition that the insertion of jewels is unique to the occasion, and reflects the Consort’s individual style.”
“These changes will in particular pay tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, as the Crown will be reset with the Cullinan III, IV, and V diamonds,” it continued. “The diamonds were part of Queen Elizabeth II’s personal jewelry collection for many years and were often worn by Her late Majesty as brooches. The Cullinan diamonds have been set into Queen Mary’s Crown on previous occasions. Cullinan III and IV were set temporarily in the Crown for the 1911 Coronation, and the Cullinan V was inserted when the Crown was worn as a regal circlet at King George VI’s Coronation in 1937.
“In addition, four of the Crown’s eight detachable arches will be removed to create a different impression to when the Crown was worn by Queen Mary at the 1911 Coronation. St Edward’s Crown, which will be used for the Coronation of His Majesty The King, has now returned to public display at the Tower of London following the completion of modification work.”
Queen Mary’s Crown was made by Garrard for the 1911 coronation, commissioned by King Charles III’s great-grandmother Queen Mary. The palace revealed that the design “was inspired by Queen Alexandra’s Crown of 1902” and like that diadem “can be worn without the arches in the form of a regal circlet, which Queen Mary wore for the Coronation of her son, King George VI, in 1937.” The coronation in May will mark the first time a Queen Consort’s Crown has been reused since the 18th century, when Queen Caroline, the wife of King George II, wore Mary of Modena’s crown.
It has also been confirmed the controversial Koh-i-Noor diamond, which has come to be associated with the queen consort role, will not feature in Camilla’s coronation crown. One of the largest cut diamonds in the world, the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond originally hails from India. It can be traced in written record back to the 17th century, according to Smithsonian magazine and was one of two jewels that featured as the centerpieces of the Peacock Throne, commissioned by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan.
After the British annexation of the Punjab in 1849, the diamond was acquired through force by the East India Company following the Anglo-Sikh Wars and came under the ownership of Queen Victoria in 1850. As Smithsonian writes, “At the end of the violent period, the only people left in line for the throne were a young boy, Duleep Singh, and his mother, Rani Jindan. And in 1849, after imprisoning Jindan, the British forced Duleep to sign a legal document amending the Treaty of Lahore, that required Duleep to give away the Koh-i-Noor and all claim to sovereignty. The boy was only 10 years old.”
It has been worn by a number of British queens since then, set in various pieces; first Victoria; then Queen Alexandra, wife of Edward VII; Queen Mary of Teck, consort of King George V, who had it set in a new crown created by Garrard for their coronation; and most recently the Queen Mother, who showcased the jewel in a new crown for her coronation as queen consort alongside her husband, King George VI, in 1937.
There have been campaigns in India calling for Britain to return the diamond, with other countries including Afghanistan and Pakistan also having staked a claim in the past. Back in October last year, an unnamed source told the Daily Mail: “Times have changed and His Majesty The King is acutely sensitive to these issues, as are his advisors. There are serious political sensitivities and significant nervousness around them, particularly regarding India.”
Nigel Fletcher, a teaching fellow in politics and contemporary history at King’s College London, was also quoted by the MailOnline as stating, “This is a smart solution to the problem of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and avoids the inevitable controversy which surrounds that stone. Wearing it during the coronation, as the last two Queens Consort have done, would today seem particularly insensitive, and would have risked a diplomatic row, given that India, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan have all claimed ownership over the years.”
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Dr. Priya Atwal, a historian of empire, monarchy, and cultural politics, said on Twitter, “It does feels like a big shift that the #Kohinoor is not going to be used in the #coronation. But when is the myth that the diamond was ‘reputedly gifted’ going to stop being peddled? Its surrender was clearly written into the 1849 Lahore Treaty.” She added, “The surrender of the gem was demanded in the treaty by the East India Company, together with the annexation of Punjab—all from its 10y/o king, Duleep Singh.”
It has also been noted, however, that the Cullinan diamonds have a complicated history of their own. The Times previously reported that the original Cullinan diamond—the largest ever found—was mined near Pretoria in 1905 and given to King Edward VII by the South African government. The Cullinan III (known as the Lesser Star of Africa), IV, and V, all smaller jewels cut from the original, are now being set into Queen Mary’s crown. The Cullinan I, dubbed the Great Star of Africa, is the largest diamond in the world, and will also appear at the coronation, mounted in the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross.
Ahead of a state visit from the President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, in November 2022, activists raised concerns about the Cullinan diamonds. Zwelinzima Vavi, a South African trade unionist whose father worked in the mines during apartheid, said that if the diamond was worn by the Queen Consort or the Princess of Wales during the state visit it would “be like spitting in the face of South Africans.”
This post was originally published in Tatler.
