The Queen has given her seal of approval on the bid to return the ‘Welsh Crown Jewels’ back to Wales. The jewels include a ring, a mantle, a robe, a sword, a girdle, and a rod. But the most famous part of this regalia is without a doubt the coronet.
The coronet’s base is inspired by the design of both St. Edward’s Crown and the Imperial State Crown. It has four crosses pattée and four fleurs-de-lis. On top of the coronet’s two arches sits a ball, topped with a cross. In the middle of the golden frame is a velvet cap, lined with fur. This coronet was used for the last Investiture of the Prince of Wales, as the previous one, used for The Duke of Windsor, was still in his possession. Most of the regalia had been redesigned for this Investiture, which took place at Caernarfon Castle in 1911.
The Imperial State Crown.
The Prince of Wales has also given his blessing. A Clarence House spokeswoman noted that it “was the Prince of Wales’ idea to help with the regeneration of Llandovery.” If this bid is successful, the jewels will be moved from their current location at St. James’s Palace in London to a heritage centre in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire.
Prime Cymru’s Chief Executive – David Pugh commented: “We have had the agreement of HM the Queen that, subject to us securing Heritage Lottery Funding, they will be on a long-term loan to Llandovery and will form the central part of the museum. They are the Welsh crown jewels and it would be the only place outside London where these sorts of things are on display.”
“It would be for the whole of west Wales to have something of this significance in this part of the country.”
Photo credit: Michael Garnett via Flickr.
“They are the Welsh crown jewels and it would be the only place outside London where these sorts of things are on display”- false the Scottish crown jewels are displayed in Edinburgh castle
Welsh things, you nit.
Jeremy, be nice. Blair wrote “these sorts” of things, which could include similar things exhibited elsewhere.
Good idea, it would reinforce the idea that the Monarchy is cross-country across various regions of Great Britain and that it stays unified under a single Monarchy.
It would’ve been interesting to see pictures of the Welsh crown jewels. We all know what Prince Charles’ coronet looks like, but I’ve never seen the other things.
There is a long history about the Cross of Gneth which was taken by Edward I from the Welsh Crown jewels when England supposedly conquered Wales and Prince Llewellyn was killed. The cross was held in various places over the three or four centuries leading up to 1552 when it appears to disappear from the Chapel of St George at Windsor castle during the Reign of the Tudor King Henry 8th. The cross was known as the Palladium of Wales and was the most precious and holy of all the crown Jewels, purportedly containing part of the wooden relic of the cross of Christ. if there is to be a collection of the Welsh crown Jewels, a replica of the missing cross would be a fitting part of the exhibition, in my opinion.
I thought Prince Charles had a modern crown made for his investiture as Prince of Wales
That’s the crown the article is about, not the older one used in 1911.
Sorry, it did not look as I remembered. I remembered Prince Charles at his investiture as Prince of Wales in a very modern crown that was made because Edward VIII kept his Prince of Wales Crown.
It’s understandable. I don’t know why they chose to show a picture of the Imperial State Crown, which has nothing to do with the Welsh Crown Jewels. I would’ve liked to see some pictures of some of the Welsh jewels and crowns used at Charles’ investiture, too.