crown jewels

English jewels

History

The Crown Jewels, famous world-wide, are a symbol of monarchy for the British people and, as such, their value represents more than gold and precious stones. They have been used by English kings and queens since 1660 or earlier. The Crown Jewels are part of the national heritage and held by The Queen as Sovereign. The collection includes regalia (those items used at a coronation) other crowns and pieces .

Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042-66), who deposited his Royal ornaments for safe-keeping in Westminster Abbey, may have been the first monarch to assemble regalia. These have been replaced or altered over the centuries.

 

Display

The Crown Jewels have been housed in the Tower of London since 1303 following a theft from Westminster Abbey. After Colonel Blood's near success in stealing by Colonel Thomas Blood in 1671, the Crown Jewels an armed guard was provided.

The Crown Jewels are now kept in a Jewel House, opened by The Queen in 1994 at the Tower of London, in a display which uses additional technology for public viewing.

Scotish jewels

History

The Honours of Scotland are the oldest sovereign regalia in the British Isles. The crown, the sword and sceptre date from the late 15th and early 16th century, during the reigns of James IV and James V, the grandfather and father of Mary Queen of Scots.

According to tradition, the silver-gilt sceptre was a gift in 1494 from Pope Alexander VI to James IV.The Sword of State was another generous papal gift, presented to James IV in 1507, from Julius. The Crown of Scotland was made in its present form for James V in 1540.

The Honours as coronation regalia were first used together at the coronation of the nine-month-old Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543, and subsequently at the coronations of her infant son James and her grandson Charles I. The Honours were never again used to crown a sovereign.

Display

Since 1819, the Honours (to which the Stone of Scone was added in 1996, after 700 years in Westminster Abbey) have been on public display in the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle, together with the Stewart and the Lorne Jewels.

Welsh jewels

These are the Crown Jewels associated with the Princess of Wales. The traditional insignia used in the investiture of a The jewels consisted originally of a coronet, a ring, a rod and a mantle. In Tudor times a sword and girdle were added. Among the surviving insignia of former Princess is the Prince of Wales's Crown, made in 1728 for Prince Frederick Louis.