Which are the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom?

1 ANSWERS

1. nandinishetye
   

   The collective term Crown Jewels denotes the regalia and vestments worn by the sovereign of the United Kingdom during the coronation ceremony and at other state functions. The term refers to the following objects: the crowns, sceptres (with either the cross or the dove), orbs, swords, rings, spurs, colobium sindonis, dalmatic, armill, and the royal robe or pall, as well as several other objects connected with the ceremony itself.
   
   Many of these descend directly from the pre-Reformation period and have a religious and sacral connotation. The vestures donned by the sovereign following the unction, for instance, closely resemble the alb and dalmatic worn by bishops, although the contention that they are meant to confer upon the sovereign an ecclesiastical character is in disrepute among Christian scholars.
   
   Most of the oldest set of Crown Jewels dating from the Anglo-Saxon period were lost by John of England near The Wash in 1216. The loss did not include the crown reputedly of Alfred the Great and that of Queen Edith which both survived until 1649. New items to replace those lost were made shortly afterwards and were soon joined by the addition of Welsh prince Llywelyn's coronet in 1284. This replacement set was stolen from Westminster Abbey in 1303 although most of the pieces, if not all, were recovered days later from the window of a London jeweller's shop with dire consequences for the owner. Since 1303, they have been stored in the Tower of London.
   
   Oliver Cromwell melted down most of the Crown Jewels of his time after the establishment of the Commonwealth in 1649. Upon the Restoration of Charles II of England and Scotland in 1660, most of the regalia were replaced. Despite efforts to get them returned, apart from gold from the melted treasures and certain gem stones, the only intact pieces to survive from before the Civil War are three swords and a spoon. Some detail about what was lost can be found in the inventory made of the Crown Jewels by order of Parliament in 1649.
   
   In the upper jewel house of the Tower:
   
       The imperial crowne of massy gold, weighing 7lb. 6 ounces, valued at £1110. The Queen's Crown of massy gold, weighing 3;b. 10 ounces, £338, 3s 4d. A small Crowne found in an iron chest, the gold, £78, 16s 8d. The diamonds, rubies, saphires, &c £355. The forementioned Crownes since the inventorie was taken, are, according to order of Parliament, totalie broken and defaced
   
   Some more ancient treasures were uncovered in the Palace of Whitehall:
   
       Queen Edith's Crowne, formerly thought to be or massy gold, but upon trial found to be of silver gilt, enriched with garnetts, foule pearle, saphires and some odd stones, 50 1/2 ounces, valued at £16. King Alfred's Crowne of gould wyerworke, sett with slight stones, and 2 little bells, 79 1/2 ounces at £3 per ounce, £248 10s.
   
   In the diary of Sir Henry Spelman, a parliamentarian at the time, he says of this crown, "It was of very ancient work, with flowers adorned with stones of somewhat plain setting". He added that the cabinet in which this last named crown was kept was inscribed:
   
       Haec est principalior corona c*m qua coronabantur reges Aelfredus, Edwardus
   
   The crown attributed to King Alfred is usually considered to be synonymous with the relic referred to as "Saint Edward's Crown" which may have been attributed to Alfred at a later date, possibly the Reformation. It is the metal recovered from this crown that is considered to be incorporated in the recreated (1661) of the same name used in modern coronation ceremonies. Curiously, of Llywelyn's coronet - known to have been incorporated into the English crown jewels in 1285 - there is no mention. It is plausible that the "small crowne found in an iron chest" may have been this artifact, but the people at the time clearly thought this more likely to have been the crown of the boy king Edward VI.

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