Ahead of King Charles’s coronation on May 6 2023, Buckingham Palace has announced that Camilla, the Queen consort, will be wearing a modified version of the crown made for Queen Mary, the consort of George V. This is the first time since the 1700s that a queen consort crown is being reused. Even more notably, the Koh-i-Noor diamond will not be used in the crown.
This most precious item among the crown jewels of the United Kingdom is also the most controversial. A piece of colonial legacy, it has long been the subject of reparation demands by the Indian government.
Koh-i-Noor is no ordinary diamond. It has been symbolic of the rise, zenith and fall of mighty empires. Never sold or bought, it has instead been a gemstone of victors in India, Persia, Afghanistan, and, since the mid-19th century, in the UK.
