At the moment of his crowning, King Charles will don the extremely heavy St. Edward’s Crown for the only time in his life—outside of potentially practicing wearing the crown for the big day. The five-pound crown is considered the most sacred in the royal collection and is only used for the moment of the actual crowning, according to Historic Royal Palaces. According to People, the crown “was created in 1661 from a solid gold frame, set with semi-precious stones from tourmalines, topazes, rubies, sapphires, zircons, and aquamarines,” the outlet reports. “Four crosses and four fleurs-de-lis decorate the gold band.”
In a full circle moment, the St. Edward’s Crown was originally commissioned for the Coronation of King Charles II, the first sovereign following the English Civil Wars in the 17th century. It was modeled on the previous crown that had been melted down and destroyed by the Parliamentarians in 1649 and, like the original, it is named for St. Edward the Confessor, an Anglo-Saxon king who died in 1066, People reports.
