After months of controversy and conjecture, the official news has arrived: on May 6th Camilla will wear Queen Mary’s crown. To avoid controversy and damage to its image, Buckingham Palace chose to avoid the Queen Mother’s crown, which proudly displays the Koh I Noor diamond. The palace seems to have bowed to the logic of the “politically correct”. The cure is perhaps worse than the “evil” and quite contradictory: India claims the diamond was stolen, but the British have always made sure it was hiding the Koh-I-Noor in the royal treasury, however, lingers an admission of guilt, so why not give it back?
Buckingham Palace announcement
“Queen Mary’s crown has been removed… from the Tower of London for changes ahead of her coronation in May. The crown will be worn by Queen Consort Camilla and marks the first time in recent history that an existing crown will be used for the coronation of a consort rather than a new one commissioned for the occasion.” With this official announcement, the Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen Consort Camilla will wear the magnificent crown commissioned by Queen Mary, wife of George V, for the 1911 Coronation on 6th May.
The hypothesis that the wife of Charles III. who can wear the magnificent crown was commissioned by the queen mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, consort of George VI, for the 1937 coronation. We are talking about the diadem on which the Koh-i-Noor stands out, one of the most controversial and important pieces of the royal treasury, which India would demand the return of.
The official statement reads: “In tribute to Queen Elizabeth, the crown will be modified with Cullinan Diamonds III, IV and V. The diamonds have for years been part of Queen Elizabeth II’s personal jewelery collection and were often worn by the late ‘His Majesty as brooches’ were, ie the South Africa, who wants her back. Yet Camilla will wear them to officially become Queen Consort of England.
The Cullinans and the Koh-I-Noor on the Crown of Mary of Teck
The crown of Queen Mary was made in 1911 by Garrard, who was inspired by Queen Alexandra’s 1902 tiara. The crown consists of 2,200 diamonds including the Cullinan III, the Cullinan IV and the Koh-I-Noor (the Cullinan V was added for the coronation of 1937). The first two were obtained by cutting the world’s largest rough diamond, the “Star of Africa”, found in a mine in Pretoria in 1905. In 1907 the stone was given to King Edward VII for his 66th birthday. The sovereign had it cut to obtain the Cullinan diamond series (9 larger stones and 96 smaller gems).
The Koh-I-Noor, on the other hand, has a much longer and somewhat obscure history. Its name means “mountain of light” and it is a 105,602 carat diamond. Queen Victoria would have taken possession of it in 1849 after the Conquest Punjab (India) and the annexation of India to the British Empire. However, this is only the last part of the journey of this marvelous gem, which was mined in a Kollur mine perhaps in the 14th century. The Koh-I-Noor would have been the pride of the Mughal Emperor Babur’s collection, who would have received it as a pledge of peace after the conquest of Delhi.
It also appeared on Shah Jahan’s Peacock Throne before falling into the hands of the Sikh ruler of Punjab, Ranjit Singh in 1810. According to legend, the “mountain of light” brings misfortune and death to its male owners. On the contrary, it would guarantee women happiness and success. THE Cullinan III, IV and Koh-I-Noor were removed from Queen Mary’s crown after 1911 and replaced with quartz crystals. The first two became brooches, which were also used by Elizabeth II. However, the “Mountain of Light” landed on the Queen Mother’s crown, also made by Garrard. When Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon died in 2002, the tiara was placed on her coffin.
controversy and controversy
In 2013, India asked for the Koh I Noor diamond to be returned, but received a resounding no from then Prime Minister Cameron, who called the request “illogical”. After the death of queen elizabeth Protests have become more frequent and persistent. One Twitter user wrote: “Queen Elizabeth is dead… Can we get back the Koh i Noor diamond stolen from India by the British?” They created wealth through the deaths of others and through plunder”. Another said: “Can India get back the Koh i Noor and everything stolen from the British Museum?”. A third upped the ante: “When will these colonizers give us back the Koh i Noor they took from us?”.
India believes that “The Mountain of Light” was “stolen” by Maharaja Duleep Singh (son of Ranjit Singh) in 1849, but the British have always retorted that they did not “stole or take it by force” but did a gift from Ranjit Singh’s descendants. The protest also took on a political value because the party of Narendra ModiThe Bharatiya Janata Party said wearing the Koh-I-Noor during Charles III’s coronation would “evoke painful memories of the colonial past”.
Same story for them Star of Africa. Also on Twitter, one user wasn’t shy about saying, “Britain should bring the Great Star of Africa back to South Africa where it belongs or they will be thieves forever.” And again, “Britain is the only place where.” i [risultati dei] Looting is issued legally and used to generate revenue for the state.”