Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The British Crown Jewels

Episode Date: May 16, 2021

Located in the Tower of London are a collection of objects, some of which date back 800 years, which are the physical symbols of the British Monarchy. These objects have a value that would almost be impossible to measure given both their intrinsic and historical worth. They are the physical embodiment of the British Monarchy. Learn more about the British Crown Jewels and their role in the British monarchy on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Located in the Tower of London are a collection of objects, some of which date back 800 years, which are the physical symbols of the British monarchy. These objects have a value which would almost be impossible to measure given both their intrinsic and historical worth. Learn more about the British crown jewels and their role in the British monarchy on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story, that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night.

And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the Thuline podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by the Travel Photography Academy. If you've listened to enough episodes of this podcast, you'll notice that I often interject places that I've visited. That's because I spent over 10 years of my life traveling around the world almost nonstop. During that time, I went from being a completely. complete novice in photography to winning almost every major travel photography prize in North America.

When I learned how to do travel photography, I had to do it the hard way. It took years of time and lots of travel. That's why I created the Travel Photography Academy, so you can learn from me in much less time, spending much less money. It's an online video course which I shot on location in France, Spain, and the United States, and I cover everything you need to improve your travel photography. So, if you want to take your photography to the next level and get better photos on your next trip, visit travel photography academy.com or click on the link in the show notes. The phrase, the crown jewels, has become a euphemism for anything which has central importance. For example, the secret seven herbs and spices are the crown jewels of the KFC empire. However, the

origin of the phrase lies in a collection of actual ceremonial objects, which are used by the British monarchy. Officially, they're known as the coronation regalia, and their primary use is for the investiture of a new monarch during the coronation ceremony. The crown jewels are owned by the crown. That is to say, they're owned by the institution known as the crown and not personally by the monarch. Upon a transition of the monarchy, they are automatically, by law, transferred to the new monarch, and they're not something that can be transferred personally in the monarch's will

as personal property. So they're technically owned by the queen, and not by Elizabeth Windsor. There are currently 142 items that make up the crown jewels. The collection includes a large number of things that you wouldn't normally associate with being crown jewels. This includes 64 pieces of silver and gold plates and cups, 16 trumpets, 13 mazes, swords, scepters, walking sticks, bracelets,

armbands, rings, robes, orbs, a spoon, and of course, crowns. Most of the pieces in the collection are rather recent, historically speaking. When King Charles I was beheaded by the forces of Oliver Cromwell at the end of the English Civil War, almost all of the crown jewels were either melted down or sold. Only four of the 142 items in the current collection predate the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, three swords and the oldest item in the collection, the anointing spoon, which dates back to the 12th century. It was actually sold off like all the other items in the royal collection, but given back to the crown when it was restored. The spoon is actually used in the coronation ceremony during the anointing of the monarch.

Holy oil is poured onto the spoon, which is then used to anoint the monarch's hands, breast, and head. While there are many items in the crown jewels, there are a few which are considered the highlights of the collection. The centerpiece of the crown jewels is St. Edward's crown. There are actually several different crowns that have been used for the coronation of various monarchs, all of which are part of the crown jewels. St. Edward's crown is named after St. Edward's crown. A King of England. The original crown was destroyed after the execution of Charles I, and the current crown was recreated for Charles II after the restoration in 1661. The crown is 12 inches tall and

weighs five pounds, and it's made of solid gold. There are four arches at the top with a purple velvet cloth underneath the arches, and it's adorned with 444 precious stones. Not every monarch has used the St. Edward's crown during the coronation ceremony. In fact, the only monarchs who have used the crown are Charles II, James II, William III, George the 5th, George the 6th, and the current Elizabeth II. The St. Edward's crown is usually only used during the coronation itself, which means that it was last used in 1953. However, it is the crown that's used on the monogram for Queen Elizabeth. She's actually only worn it for a few moments during her entire reign, given its heavy weight. The crown used by the monarch after the coronation is called the Imperial State Crown. It was

created in 1937, and it's slightly smaller and lighter than the St. Edward's crown. This is the crown that is traditionally worn by the monarch during the opening of Parliament. The crown has a whopping 2,901 precious stones, including the literal crown jewel, the Cullen and the second diamond, which is 317.4 carrots in weight. I'll have more on the Cullin and Diamond in just a moment. It also has such other noteworthy gems as the St. Edward Sapphire, the Stuart Sapphire, and the Black Princess Ruby. The queen actually ceased wearing the crown in 2016, as she was just getting advanced and aged and found it difficult to wear. Today, the crown is just held next to her on a podium when she reads her speech to Parliament. In a 2013 interview, she told the

BBC, quote, you can't look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech up, because if you did, your neck would break and it would fall off. There are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise, they're quite important things. Unquote. There are several other crowns in the collection, which were used in the past, but haven't been used in decades or centuries. Some of them, like the crown made for a Queen Elizabeth's mother, also named Queen Elizabeth, had a crown made with the incredible Mountain of Light Diamond from India. There are other objects which are major parts of the coronation ceremony as well. There are jewel-encrusted swords that are often used in the procession. Specifically, there are three, the sword of offering, the sort of state, and the sword of mercy.

The swords represent the monarch's role of the military, the country, and the Church of England. The sovereign's orb is a golden, jeweled-encrusted ball with a cross on the top, which is held in the monarch's left hand during the coronation. The orb weighs 1.07 kilograms or 2.4 pounds. In the monarch's other hand is held the sceptre. There are actually six scepters in the collection, but the main one which is used during the ceremony is called the sovereign scepter with cross. This scepter has the Cullinan one diamond, also known as the Great Star of Africa. Weighing 530.2 carrots, it has 74 facets.

It is the largest clear-cut diamond in the world and the second largest cut diamond in the world. The Cullin I diamond in the Scepter and the Cullin and 2 in the Imperial State Crown are two of the gems cut from the original Cullin and Diamond. Discovered in 1905 in South Africa, it was the largest rough-cut diamond ever found. The original uncut diamond weighed 3,106.75 carrots. Seven other major cut diamonds came from the original Cullin Diamond, all of which are in the personal possession of the Queen. The original raw diamond was sent to Amsterdam to be split. Much fanfare was made when the diamond was sent there on a naval vessel, but in reality, the whole Navy thing was a decoy.

The Navy transported an empty box, and the actual diamond was transported in the coat pocket of the man who did the cutting. The crown jewels are permanently stored in the Tower of London. They are under constant watch by the Tower Guard. In addition to their ceremonial duties at the Tower, they are all also active duty military personnel and actively guard the collection. Within the Tower of London, the jewels are on public display in the jewel vault. They are encased in bulletproof glass in a facility that is designed to process over 25,000 tourists per day.

It's estimated that over 30 million people have personally seen the crown jewels, making them perhaps the most personally observed objects in the world. The person who is responsible for the crown jewels, and the only person who is allowed to handle them is the crown jeweler. The crown jeweler is a member of the royal household. He is responsible for cleaning the collection every January. He is one of only three people who are allowed to touch them other than the monarch and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

And those people have to touch them as they are part of the coronation ceremony. The big people most question have is how much are the crown jewels worth? Technically speaking, the value of the jewels are priceless. They have never been appraised and they are not insured. In fact, it would probably be impossible to get insurance for objects like these. The value of the Cullinan I diamond itself is estimated to be around $400 million. The entire collection has had informal estimates placed upon it of between 3 to 5 billion pounds. This really doesn't even include the historic nature of the artifacts.

The historic value of St. Edward's crown has a value far beyond just the value of the gems and the materials. From an artistic and historic value, it might be on a par with the Mona Lisa. Today, you can see the crown jewels yourself at the Tower of London. It's open almost every day of the week. There are a limited number of people who can see the crown jewels every day, so you have to be sure to buy tickets in advance. If there should ever be a coronation ceremony at some point in the future, keep an eye out for the objects I mentioned in this episode,

for it will be the first time most of them have actually been used in over 70 years. The associate producer of Everything Everywhere daily is Thor Thompson. If you'd like to support the show, please donate over at patreon.com. There is content only available to supporters, merchandise, and even opportunities for a show producer credit. If you know someone you think would enjoy the show, please share it with them. Also remember, if you leave a five-star review, I'll read your review on the show.