Regalia du Sacre

The heart of the Crown Jewels and housed in the Tower of London where they are kept on public display, the Coronation Regalia are sacred and secular objects which symbolise the service and responsibilities of the monarch. The Regalia have played a central role in coronation services for hundreds of years. As part of the Royal Collection, the Regalia are held in trust by the Monarch on behalf of the nation.

Two Maces, made of silver gilt over oak, date between 1660 and 1695 and are the ceremonial emblems of authority which are carried before the Sovereign at events such as the State Opening of Parliament. Also carried before the Sovereign on formal occasions is the Sword of State, symbolising Royal authority; a steel blade with a silver-gilt hilt, enclosed in a wooden scabbard which is covered in velvet. In 1660 and 1678, during the reign of King Charles II, two such swords were made, the elder of which has not survived. The remaining sword has been used at several Coronations and, in 1969, the Investiture of The Prince of Wales. The sword is carried with the point upwards, and the scabbard carries the coat of arms of King William III.

Three further swords were used during the Coronation Procession at Westminster Abbey; the Sword of Temporal Justice, signifying the Monarch’s role as Head of the Armed Forces, the Sword of Spiritual Justice, signifying the Monarch as Defender of the Faith, and the Sword of Mercy or Curtana, which has a blunted tip, symbolising the Sovereign’s mercy. The swords were first used at the Coronation of King Charles I in 1626, and the steel blades date back to the sixteenth century, with early seventeenth century gilt-iron hilts, and wire-bound grips. The three swords are carried without their scabbards, with their points up.

The golden St Edward’s Staff, with its steel spike, was created by the Crown Jeweller, Robert Vyner, in 1661. It derives from an earlier staff which was often referred to as the ‘Long Sceptre’ and carried in fifteenth and sixteenth century Coronation processions as a relic of the royal saint, Edward the Confessor.

The Chrism oil with which The King and The Queen were anointed, which was consecrated in The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in March, was contained within the Ampulla, made from gold and cast in the form of an eagle with outspread wings. The oil is poured through an aperture in the beak. The Ampulla was supplied for the coronation of King Charles II in 1661 by the Crown Jeweller, Robert Vyner, and is based on an earlier, smaller vessel, which in turn was based on a fourteenth-century legend in which the Virgin Mary appeared to St Thomas à Becket and presented him with a golden eagle and a vial of oil for anointing future kings of England.

The silver-gilt Coronation Spoon is the oldest object in use at Coronations, having been first recorded in 1349 among St Edward’s Regalia in Westminster Abbey, and is the only piece of royal goldsmiths’ work to survive from the twelfth century, having possibly been supplied to King Henry II (1133–1189) or King Richard I (1157–1199). It was used to anoint King James I in 1603, and at every subsequent Coronation. In 1649, the Spoon was sold to the Yeoman of King Charles I’s Wardrobe, who returned it for King Charles II’s Coronation in 1661, when small seed pearls were added to the decoration of the handle. The Spurs were made in 1661 for King Charles II, but the use of spurs at Coronations dates back to King Richard I, the Lionheart, and his Coronation in 1189. The gold, leather and velvet Spurs symbolise knighthood, and they were altered in 1820 for King George IV.

The Sword of Offering was made in 1820, and has a steel blade, mounted in gold and set with jewels, which form a rose, a thistle, a shamrock, oak leaves, acorns, and lion’s heads. The sword is contained in a gold-covered leather scabbard. It was first used at the Coronation of King George IV.

The two Armills are bracelets made from gold, champlevé and basse-taille enamel, lined in velvet, and are thought to relate to ancient symbols of knighthood and military leadership. They have been referred to during previous Coronations as the 'bracelets of sincerity and wisdom'. The Armills date back to 1661 and have been used at every Coronation from King Charles II’s until King George VI’s in 1937. Queen Elizabeth II had new ones made for her Coronation but The King used the originals, last used for His Majesty’s Grandfather.

The Queen Consort’s Ring, a ruby in a gold setting, was made for the Coronation of King William IV and Queen Adelaide in 1831, and has been used by three further Queens; Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Mirroring the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Dove, the Queen Consort's Rod with Dove is symbolic of ‘equity and mercy’ and the dove, with its folded wings, is symbolic of the Holy Ghost.

The Queen Consort's Sceptre with Cross was originally supplied for the coronation of Mary of Modena, Queen Consort of James II, in 1685 by Robert Vyner, and is inlaid with rock crystals.

Queen Mary’s Crown was chosen by The Queen for the Coronation, marking the first instance in modern times of an existing crown being used for the Coronation of the Consort. Ahead of the Coronation, minor changes and additions to Queen Mary’s Crown were undertaken, such as the as inclusion of the Cullinan III, IV and V diamonds which were part of Queen Elizabeth II’s personal jewellery collection for many years. The design was inspired by Queen Alexandra’s Crown of 1902. Like Queen Alexandra’s Crown, it can be worn without the arches in the form of a circlet, which Queen Mary wore for the Coronation of her son, King George VI, in 1937.

The crown is composed of a silver frame, lined with gold, and set with 2,200 diamonds, mainly brilliant-cut, with some rose-cut. The crown has an openwork band, set at the front with a detachable rock crystal replica of the diamond, Cullinan IV, a large cushion-shaped stone, and a frieze of quatrefoils and rosettes, each with a large brilliant in the centre, surrounded by smaller stones, between borders composed of single rows of brilliants. Above the band are four crosses-pattée and four fleurs-de-lis. The front cross is set with a detachable rock crystal replica of the Koh-i-nûr diamond, the other three crosses are set in the centre with a large diamond each. The eight detachable half-arches each taper towards the top, and terminate in scrolls, and contain six graduated brilliants, between borders of stones. The monde is pavé-set with diamonds and surmounted by another cross with a rock crystal replica of the pear-shaped diamond Cullinan III in the centre. The crown is fitted with a purple velvet cap with an ermine band.

Queen Mary's crown was designed for the Coronation of June 1911. The design was inspired by Queen Alexandra's crown of 1902 which has similarly elegant arches. Queen Mary also wore the crown without its arches as a circlet, in particular for the Coronation of her son, King George VI at the coronation in 1937.

The Imperial State Crown, or Crown of State, is the crown the monarch exchanges for St Edward's Crown at the end of the Coronation Service. The Imperial State Crown is also used on ceremonial occasions, such as the State Opening of Parliament. The term “imperial state crown” dates back to the fifteenth century when English monarchs chose a crown design closed by arches to demonstrate that England was not subject to any other earthly power. This Imperial State Crown was made for the Coronation of King George VI in 1937, but is closely based on a crown designed for Queen Victoria in 1838 by the Crown Jewellers of the time, Rundell, Bridge and Rundell.

The Imperial State Crown is formed from an openwork gold frame, mounted with three very large stones, and set with 2868 diamonds in silver mounts, largely table-, rose- and brilliant-cut, and coloured stones in gold mounts, including 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls.

At the front of the crown band is the large cushion-shaped brilliant, Cullinan II, the second largest stone cut from the Cullianan Diamond. At the back of the band is the large oval sapphire known as the 'Stuart Sapphire'. The two large stones are linked by an openwork frieze, containing eight step-cut emeralds and eight sapphires, between two rows of pearls.

Above the band are two arches (or four half-arches), each springing from a cross-pattée. The front cross is mounted with a large, irregular cabochon red spinel, known as the 'Black Prince's Ruby'. In its history the stone was pierced for use as a pendant, and the upper hole later plugged with a small cabochon ruby in a gold slip mount. The remaining three crosses are each mounted with a step-cut emerald mounted as a lozenge. The crosses alternate with four fleurs-de-lis, each with a mixed-cut ruby in the centre. Both crosses and fleurs-de-lis are further mounted with diamonds. The crosses and fleurs-de-lis are linked by swags of diamonds, supported on sapphires.

The arches are cast as oak leaves, set with diamonds, each having paired pearl acorns in diamond cups projecting from the sides. At the intersection of the arches are suspended four large pear-shaped pearls in rose-diamond caps, known as 'Queen Elizabeth's Earrings'. The arches are surmounted by a monde of fretted silver, pavé-set with brilliants, with a cross-pattée above, set in the centre with an octagonal rose-cut sapphire known as 'St Edward's Sapphire'.

The crown is fitted with a purple velvet cap and ermine band. Small plates on the reverse of the 'Black Prince's Ruby' and the 'Stuart Sapphire' are engraved to commemorate the history of the crown.