Crown of Queen Elizabeth

The Crown of the Queen Mother is the platinum crown manufactured for, and worn by, Queen Elizabeth, the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the queen consort of King George VI of the United Kingdom at their coronation in Westminster Abbey in 1937. It is the first crown for a British consort to be made of platinum.

The crown was made by Garrard & Co in London, the long term manufacturer of British royal crowns, and modelled partially on the design of the Crown of Queen Mary, the crown of Mary of Teck, wife of King George V. It consists of four half-arches, in contrast to the eight half-arches of Queen Mary's crown. As with Queen Mary's crown, its arches were detachable at the cross-pattee, allowing Elizabeth to wear the crown as a circlet.

The crown is decorated with precious stones, most notably the 105-carat (21 g) Koh-i-Noor diamond in the middle of the front cross, which was seized by the East India Company and became part of the British Crown Jewels when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877.

After the death of her husband, Queen Elizabeth (known thereafter as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) ceased to wear the full crown, but wore it minus the arches as a circlet at the coronation of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

The crown was placed in position on the coffin of the Queen Mother for her funeral in 2002.^[1]

The crown is now on display along with the other British Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.

References

1. ^ "PHOTOS—funeral pageantry of Britain's Queen Mother". The Tribune. Reuters (photos) (Chandigarh, India). 6 April 2002. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020406/photos.htm. Retrieved 17 November 2011.