The reason why Charles III will wear two crowns during his coronation as King of England

The coronation of King Charles III as monarch of the United Kingdom will take place in London this Saturday, May 6. The King, who has already served as such since September 8, 2022, will be crowned together with the queen consort, Camila, and will receive the three symbols of his reign: the crown, the scepter, and the orb.

The event will take place at Westminster Abbey, and people are flooding into London to catch a glimpse of the festivities that will begin at 06:00 local time. Continuing with the royal tradition, King Chares III will wear two crowns throughout the day. One of which dates back to the year 1661 and the other to 1937.

St Edward’s Crown

During the ceremony, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, King Charles III will be crowned with the historic St Edward’s Crown, the centerpiece of the collection of royal jewels that millions of people visit the Tower of London every year.

This crown is only worn during coronations and thus represents a tradition that cannot be broken. The last time this crown was on the crown of a monarch was in 1953, when King Charles’s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, was crowned.

Characteristics of the crown

Weighing 2.2 kg, the St. Edwards crow is set with a solid gold frame inlaid with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnets, topaz, and tourmalines. In addition, it has a purple velvet cap and an ermine band. Four diadems rest on the cross-shaped rosettes that converge at the top of the crown, topped with an orb on which another cross sits.

At the base of the crown, there is a circle of diadems which are decorated with a row of pearls. All these details have been included in the creation of the ‘emoji’ of the coronation by The Royal Family, as was done during Queen Elizabeth’s II Platinum Jubilee.

Imperial State Crown

At the end of the ceremony, Charles III will place be crowned with the Imperial State crown, made in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI. This has been modified on two occasions. The first was after the coronation of Queen Victoria since she complained about the excessive weight of the crown. In 1937, it was redone by the jeweler Garrard & Co for the coronation of George VI. It has four diadems and is made up of 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and five rubies.

A kicked cross is placed on top of a velvet cape. It has a height of 31.5 cm and weighs approximately 1.28 kg. Its name dates back to the 15th century when English monarchs chose this design for their crowns, enclosed by arches to show that England was not subject to any other earthly power.