The Crown Jewels of England

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Perhaps the most famous collection of jewels in the world-apart from personally owned royal gems-is that which comprises the Crown Jewels of England. The impressive coronation ceremony would lose much of its splendor without its jeweled regalia and richly-colored robes. These symbols of kingship, equality and justice; of spirituality and mercy, are indeed a stimulating and beautiful sight, while to describe the wealth of history and tradition behind the Crown Jewels of England is to open wide the pages of history, for the original Crown Regalia can be traced back to the year A.D. 853 and the reign of Aethelwulf, when the young Prince Alfred was sent to Rome to receive the Papal Blessing and the Crown.

 

Though intrinsically valued by some at somewhere around £20,000,000 , the Crown Jewels are really priceless, for much of their true value lies in their symbolism and historical interest. To British people throughout the world, the Regalia provided a link between the present day and theBritainof more than a thousand years ago. Had it not been for the vanadium of Cromwell 's Commonwealth Government which decided in 1649 to melt down or sell all symbols of monarchy, the Regalia would still contain the crown worn by Alfred the Great when he was crowned the first King of a Unified England at Winchester in A.D. 871, though visitors can still see in the Jewel House of London the jewels actually worn or handled by Edward the Confessor, the Black Prince, and the first Queen Elizabeth.

 

For more than a thousand years, the Crown Jewels have reposed in theTowerofLondon, but before that they were kept in the Abbey Church of Westminister, where they were not particularly well protected, so that many depredations were made upon them under the careless custodianship. When James II came to the throne, he found the Crown of England was so battered and so many gems pilfered from it to have been replaced by imitation gems that the repair and replacements cost £12,000. An attempt to rob he Royal Treasury in 1303 led to its removal from the Abbey and by the time Henry III ascended the throne, some of the King 's jewels had already been moved to theWhiteTower. When what was brought from the Abbey was added to this, the collection was found to be so extensive that it was decided to build a special Jewel House to contain it. Here the King 's treasure was kept in comparative safety-comparative because it was occasionally despoiled in order to raise money for war-making. It was usual, in the Middle Ages, for kings throughoutEuropeto accumulate wealth in the form of jewels and plate as a reserve ãfundä upon which to draw when a war had to be financed.

 

But these depredations were as nothing compared with the vandalism of the Commonwealth Government in ordering all the insignia of British Royalty to be sold, melted down or destroyed. It gained only a few hundred pounds for Cromwell but it lost for posterity-the priceless symbols of royalty. King Alfred, the Great 's crown of ãgould wyerworke set with slight stones and two little bells ' fetched only £248 10's, while poor Queen Edith 's little crown only realized £16.ä There is a legend that the ancient Crown of England still exists; that it was secreted by some Royalist and its hiding place never revealed.

 

Fortunately some of the Regalia did escape the pillage of 1649, notably the Gold Ampulla or Sacred Eagle, which held the anointing oil and the Anointing Spoon. Several of the famous gems with centuries of history behind them were also recovered and now occupy prominent positions in the royal crowns. Among these gems is the sapphire which was set into the Coronation Ring of Edward the Confessor; the pearl earrings worn by Queen Elizabeth I and the famous Black Prince 's Ruby (actually a spinel, though it is recorded as a ruby). These are all set in the Imperial State Crown.

 

The Black Prince 's Ruby, which looks like large clot of congealed blood is about one and a half inches wide and has been variously valued as worth from £100,000 to £150,000. Its history is bound up in bloodshed and murder, but it remains one of the most interesting and admired gems in existence. It was first heard of in 1369, when it was already many centuries old. It was at that time owned by the King of Granada who was murdered by