Will the Queen Consort be crowned alongside Charles? (Picture: Chris Jackson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
For the first time in 70 years, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth has a Queen Consort.
Camilla has stepped into the Consort role as she gets set to support the reign of her husband King Charles III following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
With the coronation of King Charles III now confirmed to be taking place on Saturday, May 6, 2023, the nation’s attention has already started to turn to the country’s first coronation since 1953.
But will Camilla also be crowned?
Will Camilla, Queen Consort be coronated and with what crown?
At the ceremony where she will be acclaimed as Queen Consort, it has been widely reported that Camilla will be given the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, also known as The Queen Mother’s Crown.
The crown belonged to The Queen Mother, who was given it in 1937 for the coronation of her husband, King George VI.
Here is what we know about the story of the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother which could soon be used by Camilla, The Queen Consort.
Abdication of King Edward VIII
Following the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936, the Crown Jeweller Garrard & Co was tasked with designing an entirely new crown for Queen Elizabeth, the wife of George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II.
The company had to produce the crown in time for Queen Elizabeth to wear at her husband’s coronation in 1937.
The crown was designed for Queen Elizabeth to wear to the coronation of King George VI in 1937 (Picture: POOL WPA/AFP via Getty Images)
Koh-i-Noor diamond
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In order to source precious stones for the crown, the team took the Koh-i-Noor diamond from Queen Mary’s crown to form the centrepiece of the new design and replaced it with one of the smaller stones taken from the Cullinan diamond.
The 105-carat Koh-i-Noor, which translates into Mountain of Light in Persian, is believed to have been mined in India around 1100.
The diamond was presented to Queen Victoria during the Great Exhibition in 1851 after it was obtained by the East India Company following the Anglo-Sikh Wars.
Victoria originally wore the Koh-i-Noor as a brooch, but did not enjoy wearing it given the circumstances of how the diamond came to leave India at the end of the wars.
The Koh-i-Noor has a reputation for bringing bad omens to gentleman who wear it, and as such is worn by female members of the Royal Family.
The diamond carries a curse lethal to male bearers and “only God or a woman can wear it with impunity.”
Both India and Pakistan have laid claim to the Koh-i-Noor, but British Prime Ministers have refused to surrender the jewel.
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother wore the crown on many occasions of state (Picture: Keystone/Getty Images)
Design
Aside from the Koh-i-Noor, the crown is made up of 2,800 diamonds, the majority of which are cushion-shaped, although some are also rose-cut.
The band, which is designed to have alternating clusters as crosses and rectangles, is lined with singular rows of brilliant-cut diamonds.
One of the diamonds is a 17-carat Turkish diamond presented to Queen Victoria in 1856 by Abdülmecid I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, as a token of good-will following Britain’s help in the Crimean War.
Despite being modelled on Queen Mary’s crown, it varies slightly by having four half-arches instead of eight which feature alternating diamond-encrusted cross and fleur-de-lis motifs.
The crown has a pavé-set monde and a cross set with a crystal replica of the Lahore Diamond.
Its arches are detachable at the crosses pattée, allowing it to be worn as either a circlet or an open crown.
It is the only crown for a British King or Queen to be constructed out of platinum.
The crown sat on top of The Queen Mother’s coffin in 2002 (Pictur: Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)
Usage
As well as wearing the crown to the coronation of King George VI in 1937, the Queen Mother also wore the crown when she accompanied her husband to State Openings of Parliament.
Following the death of King George VI, the Queen Mother no longer wore the full crown.
However, she instead wore it without the arches as a circlet for the coronation of her eldest daughter, Elizabeth II, in 1953.
More: Queen Elizabeth II
After the passing of The Queen Mother in 2002, the crown was placed on her coffin during her Lying-in-state period and her funeral.
Since then, the crown had been on display at the Jewel House in the Tower of London.
Queen Charlotte was the first Queen Consort in 1761 to start the tradition of a King’s wife having their very own crown.
MORE : Will there be an extra bank holiday for King Charles’ Coronation?
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Camilla is expected to be given the crown during her husband’s coronation.