(ANSA) — ROME, DECEMBER 4 — The St Edward’s Crown, the official emblem of the British monarchy, has been taken from the Tower of London where it is kept as the centerpiece of the Crown Jewels and is in the works to change diameter and fit it to the head of King Charles III in anticipation of the coronation ceremony scheduled for 6 May next year at Westminster Abbey, eight months into the throne after the death of Elizabeth II. on. This was announced by Buckingham Palace, quoted by the BBC.
The present crown was made in 1661 for King Charles II Stuart, from the original believed to be by King Edward the Confessor (St Edward, 1003-1066), one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings before the unification of England under the Norman dynasty. But it took a very different form and was merged in the short period of republic and civil war after the beheading of King Charles I in 1649.
The 17th-century crown, which features the British royal emblem surmounted by the Royal Mail and Armed Forces, is 30 centimeters high, 66 wide and weighs 2.23 kilos. It consists of a base with four lilies alternating with four crosses, above which the arches surmount a sphere with a large cross.
Inside is a velvet cap trimmed with ermine. It is made of 22k gold, with 444 hard stones: 345 aquamarine beryls, 37 white topaz, 27 tourmaline, 12 ruby, 7 amethyst, 6 sapphire, 2 zircon, 1 garnet, a spinel and an almandine.
Carlo announced his intention to be the center of a shorter coronation ceremony than his mother’s, but to retain the central elements of a tradition that has been carried on for over a thousand years, including the coronation of Queen Consort Camilla. Guests are expected to be reduced by a quarter to about 2,000 from the 8,000 who attended Elizabeth’s three-hour ceremony in 1953.
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