The crowns of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom (part 1)

The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom have been kept in the Tower of London since 1303. Today the jewels are one of Britain’s most famous tourist drawing points and are seen by millions of people from all over the world each year. Here are the crowns that are displayed.

St. Edward’s Crown – This crown was created in 1661 and is made entirely of gold. Its design consists of four fleurs-de-lis and four crosses, with two arches on the top that cross each other. On top of the arches is placed a jeweled cross pattée. A total of 444 precious stones are embedded into the crown, which is used through most of the coronation ceremony and is noted by several British monarchs to be tremendously heavy and uncomfortable to wear. Queen Elizabeth II decided to use a stylised representation of St. Edwards’s Crown on the images of the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom. Legend says that the crown is made of the melted gold from King Edwards’s Crown which explains the crown’s name.

The Imperial State Crown – The crown was made for King George VI in 1937 and is an exact copy of that made for Queen Victoria in 1838. It was reproduced because Queen Victoria’s Crown was worn out and had an unsteady frame which made wearing it very difficult. The original frame of the crown is currently displayed in the Museum of London. In 1953, King George’s version was altered and was sized to fit Queen Elizabeth II. The arches of the crown were lowered by approximately one inch to give it a more feminine appearance. Just like the aforementioned crown the Imperial State Crown is made of four crosses, four fleurs-de-lis and two arches with are topped by a cross pattée. However this crown includes a total of 3174 precious stones (2.868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 5 rubies. Among the 3174 stones are several famous ones such as the Black Prince’s Ruby and the Lesser Star of Africa officially known as the Cullinan II diamond. Two of the four pearls that are dangling from the crown were once worn by Queen Elizabeth I. The Imperial State Crown is worn after the conclusion of the Coronation ceremony.

The Imperial Crown of India – It was created especially for King George V’s visit to Delhi as Emperor of India. The new crown was fabricated as British law forbids the removal of a Crown Jewel from the United Kingdom. Since the king’s return from India, the crown has never been used. In fact the Imperial Crown of India isn’t officially British Crown Jewel despite the fact that it is stored with them.

You can see these breathtaking crowns and all the other Crown Jewels by visiting the Tower of London, once your relocation to London via professional movers is done. Don’t worry about the price of moving services as most company’s work with affordable prices.

During your visit of the Tower of London, be sure to check out the entire castle complex and not just the jewels.