“It’d be surprising to see it used in coronation”: Queen Consort Camilla Reportedly Won’t Wear the Famous $591M Worth Kohinoor Diamond During Her Crowning to Avoid Backlash
If there were an object that could be tagged as a symbol of British imperialism then you could make a million guesses because they’ve got an entire museum filled with plundered artifacts. However, one of the most valuable items, assuming that one can place a price tag on heritage, is undoubtedly the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Being one of the most valuable, it also happens to be one of the most controversial pieces in possession of the Brit royals. And while the crown that this diamond adorns has its own legacy of being placed on a queen’s head, it is uncertain whether Queen Consort Camilla would don it during King Charles III’s coronation.
The legacy of Koh-i-Noor
The invaluable crown flaunting the invaluable diamond, which is the topic of speculation here, is the design made for the Queen Mother for her coronation alongside King George VI in 1937. The Koh-i-Noor is a staggering 105-carat diamond whose name translates to ‘mountain of light’ in Persian. Prior to brightening the Queen Mother’s crown, the diamond was the key gem of the crowns of former consorts: Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary.
The gemstone was pillaged from India by the East India Company back in the 19th century and given to Queen Victoria.
Will Queen Consort Camilla dare to wear the invaluable crown?
King Charles III’s coronation is slated to take place on May 6, 2023, and speculations have started regarding the question of the crown and whether the Queen Consort will wear it during the ceremony.
A certain Twitter user strongly claimed that the history of the diamond suggests that:
“It should come back to its origin, the least UK can do towards the centuries of exploitation, opression [sic], racism, slavery inflicted on people of the Indian subcontinent.”
Co-author of Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond, William Dalrymple talked to the Daily Mail claiming that the entire debate over the diamond “has come to take the whole weight of colonization on its shoulder” and was “a massive diplomatic grenade.”
Representative of a leading UK jeweler, Steven Stone, Maxwell Stone said: “With a wealth of controversy surrounding the diamond, it’d be surprising to see it used in the coronation ceremony.”
If a price tag can be put on the royal jewel, jewelry expert Stone gave a near-accurate estimate claiming that the Koh-i-Noor diamond alone is “said to be worth $591 million alone,” and apart from the centerpiece, there are “2,203 brilliant-cut and 662 rose-cut diamonds.”
He further said, “It’s incredibly difficult to put a price on a historical piece like this,” adding that it is “likely to be worth a staggering $1 billion.”
According to the jeweler, the Koh-i-Noor isn’t reason enough for the Queen Consort to ditch the entire crown which is currently on display at the Tower of London. He said, “The Royal Collection is full of magnificent jewels, so it’s likely that the King and Queen Consort will remove the diamond and replace it with a different gem.”
