THREE CROWNS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 41, 18 February 1937, Page 18

THREE CROWNS

WHICH FOR QUEEN

ELIZABETH ?

The problem of a crown for Queen Elizabeth is among the questions yet to be solved in connection with>•, the Coronation regalia, states a . London writer. ,■£.

The Queen does not possess a crown of her own. and there is no crown fox hi ■ as Queen-Consort available among the State jewels at the Tower.

Of six there, two—St; Edmund's Crown and the Imperial State Crown —are used for the crowning of the Sovereign in England and' a third:, i* used 'for India. ...... _

The three Queens' crowns consist' of Queen Mary's, used at the Coronation of 1911, and two "old-fashioned" ones made for Mary of Modena, wife-of James 11. These are not considered suitable for a modern Queen.

There is no record of what became of the crown of Queen Adelaide, wife of William rV. Twentieth-century consorts, Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary, have . had crowns made for them. ■ .. ■■: ■'. '...'

One alternative would be for Queen Mary's crown to be used for the crowning of Queen, Elizabeth. This magnificent diadem is light and beautiful, arid contains the world's most famous diamonds, the Koh-i-noor, and one of the lesser portions of the Cullinan, or Star of Africa, a larger part of which is in the King's State crown. Another solution would be-to make a, new crown"for the Queen out'Of the many .priceless gems in the ;Royal collections.;. ; : The crowns of both the King and Queen will have to be fitted. Velvet and fur "caps"—the "narrow edgings on which the metal rests—will be.made to the exact measurements of their heads. . : :■■;> '

There will be prints and sequins and lace this season; there will be'gold embroideries (Stibel's white doe-skiri evening coat was sent to a firm of military tailors to get- its gleaming oak:;.lea.vei and acorns).