In 26 days, the coronation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom is about to be held, and on April 9, local time, Buckingham Palace released the latest news about the coronation, and the treasures that will be used in the ceremony have been determined, and after 70 years, audiences around the world can appreciate the priceless collections of the British royal family again.
It is reported that most of the collection has now been removed from the Tower of London for final confirmation and maintenance in order to shine at the coronation.
These treasures include three crowns inlaid with large precious stones; six swords, three of which are called the "Sword of Secular Righteousness", the other two are called the "Sword of the State", and one is called the "Sword of Devotion"; An eagle-shaped holy oil box and coronation spoon with a small hole in the eagle's beak to pour oil into the coronation spoon. The coronation spoon is the oldest of all treasures, dating back to the 12th century.
In addition, there are the famous "Three Treasures of Power", the crown, the orb and the scepter. At the Queen of England's funeral, these things were placed on the coffin. When the coffins were to be buried in the ground, they were taken down, symbolizing the end of the reign of Elizabeth II.
Charles would wear two crowns at his coronation, the first being the "Crown of St. Edward", built for Charles II and used only at the coronation.
Made of 444 gemstones and a pure gold frame, the crown weighs 5 pounds (about 4.5 pounds) and is actually a velvet hat set with fur stripped of precious metal shells.
The second crown that Charles needs to wear, called the "Imperial Crown", is also one of the "Three Treasures of Power".
After leaving the church, Charles will replace it with a silver crown set with 2,868 precious stones. The crown has more opportunities to appear, and it appears every year at the opening ceremony of the British Parliament, which used to be worn on the Queen's head, and then as the Queen got older, it was placed on a tray and held by attendants.
That is to say, it is a symbol of royal power, and of course, on the other hand, it proves that it is really heavy, or there would not be the famous saying, "Don't bow your head, the crown will fall".
The two most dazzling stones in the crown are the 317.4-carat "Cullinan 2" and the "Black Prince Ruby".
It is not entirely accurate to say that this high-profile coronation is Charles's, because in it, Camilla will also be officially crowned queen, although there will be relatively few links related to her.
Camilla's crown was confirmed long ago that she would follow the principles of sustainable development and not make a new crown, using the crown worn by Queen Mary at her coronation in 1911. Although a little less imposing than the crown worn by Charles's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, it is also set with 2,200 diamonds, including two Cullinan, Nos. 3 and No. 4.
At the same time, Camilla also uses two scepters, the first of which is similar to the king's, with a diamond cross on it, a symbol of secular power. Above the second scepter is a delicate white dove representing the Holy Spirit and symbolizing fairness and mercy. This scepter has been used by every English queen since it was made in 1685.
However, for this era, this scepter is really not suitable, and there have been discussions about whether it will appear before, but now Buckingham Palace has determined that Camilla will use it.
The anachronistic reason for the anachronism of the scepter is that its main body is made of ivory, with gold and enamel.
It was previously reported that the scepter should not be used given that William, Prince of Wales, has long been committed to stopping the illegal trafficking of animal products such as ivory and rhino horn, but it is clear that the results announced by the palace will disappoint William.
However, a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said: "As with any large historical collection, it is not surprising that the royal collection contains ivory artefacts as it reflects the taste of the time." ”
That is, although Camilla, fearing international relations (or Charles feared), abandoned the controversial crown set with the "Mount of Light" diamonds (Queen Elizabeth's crown, claimed by several countries, including India), she did not want to abandon ancient ivory.