When King Charles was invested as the Prince of Wales in 1969, the young royal went through all the pomp and ceremony unaware that the jazzy modern crown he wore on his head was topped with a ping-pong ball. The plastic sphere was, of course, well disguised: not only coated with gold filigree but also surrounded by a floating constellation of diamonds arranged in the shape of Charles’s star sign, Scorpio. It was pagan astrology meets high church meets high camp, a fittingly fruity headpiece for the eccentric prince.
The crown was designed by Louis Osman, an architect and goldsmith described by one of his friends as “the original hippie” – and it marked a radical departure from the usual staid royal headwear. This was a futuristic vision featuring swooping golden arches surrounded by abstract fleurs-de-lis and needle-thin crosses that jutted out like splintering lightning bolts. The gold, symbolically, came from a Welsh nugget, but rather than being traditionally hammered it was – in a showcase of modern methods – electroplated on to an epoxy resin cast. An internal purple velvet cap banded with ermine completed the look, fulfilling Charles’s wish for a crown that could be worn by a “modern prince” with a regular haircut, not someone with a wig, and “ears that show”.
