| Heraldic: | Crown of Saint Edward (Heraldry).svg |
| Primary Material: | 22-carat gold |
| Nation: | United Kingdom |
| Weight: | 2.23kg (04.92lb) |
| Arches: | 2 |
| Date Made: | 1661 |
| Owner: | Charles III in right of the Crown.[1] |
St Edward's Crown is the coronation crown of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.[2] Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of it have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th century. It is normally on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.
The original crown was a holy relic kept at Westminster Abbey, Edward's burial place, until the regalia were either sold or melted down when Parliament abolished the monarchy in 1649, during the English Civil War. The current St Edward's Crown was made for Charles II in 1661. It is 22-carat gold, 30cm (10inches) tall, weighs 2.23kg (04.92lb), and is decorated with 444 precious and fine gemstones. The crown is similar in weight and overall appearance to the original, but its arches are Baroque.
After 1689, owing to its weight the crown was not used to crown any monarch for over 200 years. In 1911, the tradition was revived by George V and has continued ever since, including at the 2023 coronation of Charles III and Camilla.[3]
A representation of St Edward's Crown was a widely used symbol in the heraldry of the United Kingdom from 1661 to the reign of Queen Victoria, and again from 1952 to 2022 under the reign of Elizabeth II. Used to represent 'the Crown' as the sovereign source of governmental authority, it appeared on numerous official emblems in the United Kingdom, British Empire, and the Commonwealth.[4]
Edward the Confessor wore his crown at Easter, Whitsun, and Christmas.[5] In 1161, he was canonised, and objects connected with his reign became holy relics. The monks at his burial place of Westminster Abbey claimed that Edward had asked them to look after his regalia in perpetuity for the coronations of all future English kings.[6] Although the claim is likely to have been an exercise in self-promotion on the abbey's part, and some of the regalia probably had been taken from Edward's grave when he was reinterred there, it became accepted as fact,[6] thereby establishing the first known set of hereditary coronation regalia in Europe.[7] A crown referred to as St Edward's Crown is first recorded as having been used for the coronation of Henry III in 1220, and it appears to be the same crown worn by Edward.[8]
The many depictions in art of English medieval coronations (some made abroad) do not show a very consistent form of the crown in its details, but early ones all lack the arches.
St Edward's Crown rarely left Westminster Abbey. When Richard II was forced to abdicate in 1399, he had the crown brought to the Tower of London, where he symbolically handed it over to his successor Henry IV, saying "I present and give to you this crown with which I was crowned King of England and all the rights dependent on it".[9]
It was used in 1533 to crown the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, which was unprecedented for a queen consort.[10] In the Tudor period, three crowns were placed on the heads of monarchs at a coronation: St Edward's Crown, the state crown, and a "rich crown" made specially for the new king or queen.[11] After the English Reformation, the new Church of England denounced the veneration of medieval relics and, starting with the coronation of Edward VI in 1547, the significance of the crown's link to Edward the Confessor was downplayed.[12]
During the English Civil War, Parliament melted down the crown, regarded by Oliver Cromwell as symbolic of the "detestable rule of kings".[13] The crown was described in an inventory of Charles I's possessions as "King Alfred's Crown of gold wire-work set with slight stones and two little bells", weighing 79.5oz, valued at £3 per ounce, total value £248 10s 0d.[14] An inscription on the lid of its box, translated from Latin, read: "This is the chief crown of the two, with which were crowned Kings Alfred, Edward and others". However, there is no evidence to support its dating from Alfred's reign, and the crown has always been referred to as St Edward's Crown (or Crown of St Edward) in the coronation order of service.[15]
The monarchy was restored in 1660 and in preparation for the coronation of Charles II, who had been living in exile abroad, a new St Edward's Crown was supplied by the Royal Goldsmith, Sir Robert Vyner. It was fashioned to closely resemble the medieval crown, with a heavy gold base and clusters of semi-precious stones, but the arches are decidedly Baroque.[16] In the late 20th century, it was assumed to incorporate gold from the original St Edward's Crown, as they are almost identical in weight, and no invoice was produced for the materials in 1661. A crown was also displayed at the lying in state of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England from 1653 until 1658. On the weight of this evidence, writer and court historian Martin Holmes, in a 1959 paper for Archaeologia, concluded that in the time of the Interregnum St Edward's Crown was saved from the melting pot and that its gold was used to make a new crown at the Restoration.[17]
His theory became accepted wisdom, and many books, including official guidebooks for the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, repeated his claim as fact. In 2008, new research found that a coronation crown and sceptre were made in 1660 in anticipation of an early coronation, which had to be delayed several times. Charles II's other regalia were commissioned in 1661 after Parliament increased the budget as a token of their appreciation for the king. The crown at Cromwell's lying in state was probably made of gilded base metal such as tin or copper, as was usual in 17th-century England; for example, a crown displayed at the funeral of James I had cost only £5 and was decorated with fake jewels.[17]
In 1671, Thomas Blood briefly stole the crown from the Tower of London, flattening it with a mallet in an attempt to conceal it.[18] A new monde was created for the coronation of James II, and for William III the base was changed from a circle to an oval.[19] After the coronation of William III in 1689, monarchs chose to be crowned with a lighter, bespoke coronation crown (e.g., the Coronation Crown of George IV)[20] or their state crown, while St Edward's Crown usually rested on the high altar.[21]
Edward VII intended to revive the tradition of being crowned with St Edward's Crown in 1902, but on coronation day he was still recovering from an operation for appendicitis, and instead he wore the lighter Imperial State Crown.[22]
Jewels were hired for use in the crown and removed after the coronation until 1911, when it was permanently set with 444 precious and semi-precious stones. Imitation pearls on the arches and base were replaced with gold beads which at the time were platinum-plated.[23] Its band was also made smaller to fit George V, the first monarch to be crowned with St Edward's Crown in over 200 years, reducing the crown's overall weight from 82ozt to 71ozt.[22] It was used to crown his successor George VI in 1937, and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
On 4 June 2013, St Edward's Crown was displayed on the high altar in Westminster Abbey at a service marking the 60th anniversary of Elizabeth II's coronation, the first time it had left the Jewel House at the Tower of London since 1953.[24] In December 2022, the crown was removed from the Tower of London to be resized ahead of its use in the coronation of Charles III on 6 May 2023.[25]
St Edward's Crown is 22-carat gold,[26] with a circumference of 26order=flipNaNorder=flip,[27] measures 30cm (10inches) tall, and weighs 2.23kg (04.92lb). It has four fleurs-de-lis alternating with four crosses pattée, which support two dipped arches topped by a monde and cross pattée. Its purple velvet cap is trimmed with ermine. The crown features 444 precious and fine gemstones including 345 rose-cut aquamarines, 37 white topazes, 27 tourmalines, 12 rubies, 7 amethysts, 6 sapphires, 2 jargoons, 1 garnet, 1 spinel, 1 carbuncle and 1 peridot.[23]
Although St Edward's Crown is regarded as the official coronation crown, only seven monarchs have been crowned with it since the Restoration: Charles II (1661), James II (1685), William III (1689), George V (1911), George VI (1937), Elizabeth II (1953) and Charles III (2023). Mary II and Anne were crowned with small diamond crowns of their own; George I, George II, George III and William IV with the State Crown of George I; George IV with a large new diamond crown made specially for the occasion; and Queen Victoria and Edward VII chose not to use St Edward's Crown because of its weight and instead used the lighter 1838 Imperial State Crown. When not used to crown the monarch, St Edward's Crown rested on the high altar; however, it did not feature at all in Queen Victoria's coronation.[28]
After the restoration of the monarchy, Charles II based the heraldic crown on the new St Edward's Crown of 1661. It had four crosses pattée alternating with four fleurs-de-lis; the number of arches was reduced to two and the curvature of the arches was depressed at the point of intersection. On this pattern the royal crown was depicted until the reign of Queen Victoria. Although Fox-Davies states that the St Edward's Crown is supposed to be heraldically represented over the Royal Arms and other insignia because 'it is the "official" crown of England', various other crowns were depicted under Victoria, whose coronation, unusually, did not feature the St Edward's Crown at all.[29] [30] Early depictions of the Royal Arms during her reign featured the Imperial State Crown which was created for Victoria's coronation in 1838 and was similar to the St Edward's Crown but with a flatter top. However, depictions varied depending on the artist.
In 1876, Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India, and in 1880, the heraldic crown was altered to give it a more imperial form by making the arches semi-circular.[31] However, Victoria had favoured a Tudor style crown since at least the 1860s.[32] [33] After the accession of Edward VII, the War Office raised the issue of a standardised design of the crown for use by the British Army, there being in use several crowns of different patterns.[34] On 4 May 1901, the king approved a single Tudor Crown design based on the crown of Henry VII, as 'chosen and always used by Queen Victoria personally'.
George VI had ceased to use the style 'Emperor of India' in 1948 following India's independence in 1947, and on the accession of Elizabeth II in 1952, she opted to change from the 1901 Tudor Crown to a design resembling St Edward's Crown, similar to that last used before the reign of Victoria.[35]
Charles III adopted the Tudor Crown on his accession in 2022, similar to that last used under George VI but with some differences.[36] [37] The cap of the heraldic crowns is always represented as crimson, regardless of the colour of any actual crowns.
Crown copyright applies in perpetuity to depictions of the Royal Arms and any of its constituent parts under the royal prerogative, and The National Archives restricts rights to reproduce them.[38] [39] Although Crown Copyright usually expires 50 years after publication, Section 171(b) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 made an exception for 'any right or privilege of the Crown' not written in an act of parliament, thus preserving the rights of the Crown under the unwritten royal prerogative.[40]
In addition, use of the crowns for commercial purposes is specifically restricted in the UK (and in countries which are party to the Paris Convention) under sections 4 and 99 of the Trade Marks Act 1994, and their use is governed by the Lord Chamberlain's Office.[41] [42] [43] It is also an offence under Section 12 of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 to give a false indication that any goods or services are supplied to the monarch or any member of the royal family.[44]