THE CROWN OF STATE.

New Zealand Mail, 21 February 1901, Page 16

THE CROWN OF STATE.

We are told that the coffin bore the Crown of S*fcate, not the diamond Crown usually worn by her Majesty, but the Crown of England. This is perhaps the most interesting article of the Regalia, and when Queen Victoria was invested in 1838 the London “Times” published

Alfred and St. Edward

a full description of it, as supplied by one of the heralds. From that description, which the writer has before him, may be extracted the* following: —The State Crown is really the Crown of Alfred, but it is now called heraldically St. Edward’s Crown, from the fact that it is more closely identified with Edward the Confessor. The latter Monarch is represented oti his great seal in what has generally been considered the Royal Helmet, in distinction to the Royal Fillet, or head bracelet, with which we are all so familiar in our school books. A reason for this is supplied in the fact that each Monarch can have his Crown altered to suit him, but the Crown remains the same, as it has the same foundation. Up to the time of the Restoration, when it was first “re-made,” it had two little bells attacb-

ed to it, the circumstance relating to which is decidedly curious. The herald of 1838 says: “Can these appendages be bells that have hitherto been supposed to be tassels? And were the hells in. the fool's cap a satirical assumption of sovereignty, in the same manner as his bauble was the type of the sceptre? Bells were considered holy in the earliest- times, and may have been originally appended to the Crown as charms to keep off evil spirits. The modernised Crown was made for the coronation of Charles, because of the way the Parliamentarians had treated the old one, which gives the humourist food for a sally that perhaps the reason why Cromwell refused it was because it was too battered. It was formed of four crosses, and as many fleur-de-lis of gold rising from a rim of gold, and having two a relies crossing each other embellished with pearls. The cap within was made of crimson velvet—Alfred s was purple —turned up with ermine. It has been said by political writers that the Crown was often in ‘‘pawn/ in olden days", and it i s no doubt true it was nearly stolen by Colonel Blood, who lost some of the jewels, which it cost- much pains and money to recover. YV hen Anne came to the throne the Crown had to be altered, being too weighty, and when George I succeeded it- was again “boiled down,” for the reason it was too light. On the accession of George IV. it was remoulded once more, when many new jewels were inserted, including a ruby which was worn by the Black Prince and by Henry A . at Agincourt. This Crown weighed four and a half pounds, and, assisted by his other finery, caused “the first gentleman in Europe ’ to half faint before his coronation was overt On the accession of the late Queen the symbol of England s greatness once more “went into the pot,” and appeared at her coronation in the form shown in the sketch. This Crown, # which weighs three pounds, is composed of hoops of silver, enclosing a cap of purple, the hoops being covered with precious stones, surmounted with a Maltese Cross of diamonds encircling a sapphire. The rim is clustered with brilliants, and ornamented with fleur-de-lis ancl crosses, and the cross in front, which is over an immense oblong sapphire, bears tlie ruby of tlie Black Prince. There are innumerable other precious stones, including emeralds, rubies, and pearls, the latter generally “hanging” ones. The lower part of the Crown is. surmounted with ermine.