New Delhi: Buckingham Palace might have been conscious about the possibility of a controversy regarding the colonial-era Kohinoor diamond and chose to avert it becoming a ‘side story’ in King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s Coronation ceremony next month, news agency PTI quoted a royal expert as saying.
Camilla Tominey, who is the Associate Editor of ‘The Daily Telegraph’ and has been keeping an inside track of the royal family, in an interview with PTI, reflected upon the decision of the Queen Consort to forgo the traditional crown.
The traditional crown is used by a monarch’s partner as the “consort crown” and has the Kohinoor embedded in it. However, among the jewels unveiled by the Buckingham Palace for the coronation ceremony on May 6, it was confirmed that Camilla would be wearing Queen Mary’s Crown.
“I think the palace were conscious about the Koh-i-Noor perhaps being controversial and therefore have decided that they don’t want there to be a side story about the provenance of these diamonds,” PTI quoted Camilla Tominey as saying.
“Basically, [the palace have] decided to do the safe and sensible thing, to not have a separate debate about the jewels in the crown,” Tominey added.
Moreover, Camilla’s choice of Queen Mary’s Crown also marks the first time that an existing crown is being used for the coronation of the monarch’s consort.
It is to be noted that earlier last month, the palace announced that it had made certain minor changes and additions to Queen Mary’s Crown. Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that manages Britain’s palaces, last month said that the Kohinoor diamond will be part of a new Jewel House exhibition at Tower of London classed as a “symbol of conquest”.
Kohinoor, which means ‘Mountain of Light in Persian, came into Queen Victoria’s possession from the treasury of Maharaja Ranjit Singh a few years before she was to be the crowned empress of India in the wake of the 1857 Revolt.