Posters of original research, analyses, insights etc retain all rights to their work.
Such research etc cannot be used in any format without the written consent of the author.
Queen Mary’s circlet
Posted by JasonD on August 30, 2018, 6:03 pm
Hello board members. Looking at a photo posted by Franck recently in relation to the County of Lincoln brooch, my attention was drawn to Queen Mary’s circlet.
Originally, at the time of QM’s coronation, the crown held the Koh-i-Nûr set in the front cross, with Cullinan IV set just below this in the base / band. Moving onto the coronation of her son, King George in 1937, and both of these stones had been removed from the circlet. Indeed, in the photo posted by Franck, you can clearly see the Koh-i-Nûr in the new queen’s crown (QEQM), while QM wore the Cullinan III & IV together in the brooch configuration. So, I started wondering what QM replaced these two stones with in her circlet?
Investigating, I was led to the Royal Collection site, which states that after QM’s coronation, she removed these large diamonds (along with Cullinan III from the very top) so that they could be worn separately, and replaced them with “quartz crystal replicas”.
While that may have been true following her 1911 coronation, I just struggle to believe that this remained the case of what QM ended up wearing to her son’s coronation. My reasons for this include: - QM loved her diamonds, and I find it hard to believe she would have worn ‘paste’ stones to the most sacred of ceremonies. - Knowing that she would be appearing all day besides QEQM, who was clearly wearing the Koh-i-Nûr and Cullinan IV front and centre in her own crown, the inferiority of a paste stone would just scream out to everyone (i.e. the paste stone replacing the Koh-i-Nûr in QM’s circlet).
Perhaps I am wrong, and the paste stones were indeed used. Wondering whether there are any really clear photos of QM at the 1937 coronation that show the shape / composition of the stones in the front of QM’s circlet.
I have been trying to work out how to reply to Jason's query as it incorporates several different issues.
Jason, I hope the following does not confuse you -- or others (and I hope I have matters correct)
1. Queen Mary removed the Cullinan and the Koh-i-noor from her crown so that she could continue to use the diamonds separately.
2. I believe that the crown was then displayed in the Tower of London with the paste replicas.
But
3. When Queen Mary used her crown either for formal Court events or for the Opening of Parliament, the authentic stones were replaced in her crown.
For example 1926
1921 at the Opening of Parliament
4. For the 1937 Coronation Queen Mary relinquished the Koh-i-noor to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who incorporated it in her new crown.
5. Queen Mary's crown was her own private property and she had it adapted to take the Cullinan V brooch in the central cross pattee.
The brooch
Crown for 1937 Coronation.
The above photo is not 100% clear. I hope that some one has a better photo.
I am not sure what arrangements Queen Mary made about a substitute for the Cullinan previously mounted on the band of her crown - but we know from photos that she wore it as a corsage jewel for the 1937 Coronation.
Does anyone have a really clear photo? I suspect that HM may have simply had the centre of the band reconfigured to look the same as the rest of the elements in the band -- but I don't have any real knowledge on that.
Beth, thanks for the response; I follow is completely.
It’s funny, but when I was writing my initial message I vaguely remembered QM inserting the Cullinan V brooch into a tiara/ circlet; however as I thought more on it, I convinced myself that the brooch was inserted into the from of the Delhi Durbar Tiara instead; obviously I’m wrong on that one!
Regarding the replacement of the Cullinan IV, I concur that it appears the band was updated with an element similar to those already existing.
Queen Mary re-configured her jewels so often that only a computer could keep track of all the changes!
So far I cannot find a photo with sufficiently high resolution to see what HM did with the band for the 1937 coronation, but when I looked at some photos of the crown from the Royal Collection site, it seems to me that it would have been a simple matter to have a rosette of diamonds inserted in the front of the band to replace the Cullinan.