| State Crown of Charles II | |
|---|---|
 Sketch of the crown from an account of Charles II's coronation by Sir Edward Walker | |
| Details | |
| Country | Kingdom of England |
| Made | 1661 |
| Destroyed | Reign of Queen Anne |
| Arches | 2 |
| Cap | Purple velvet trimmed with ermine |
| Notable stones | Stuart Sapphire, Black Prince's Ruby, a large pearl, a large emerald, diamonds and other jewels |
| Predecessors | Tudor Crown |
| Successors | State Crown of George I |
The State Crown of Charles II was a state crown created for the coronation of Charles II of England in 1661. It was created to replace the Tudor Crown destroyed in the English Civil War. It was the subject of an attempted theft by Thomas Blood in 1671 and broken up under the reign of Queen Anne.
History
Following the abolition of the monarchy and the execution of Charles I in 1649, both the state crown of England (known as the Tudor Crown) and St Edward's Crown were broken up and their valuable components sold. With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II ordered the creation of two new imperial crowns by Sir Robert Vyner to replace those lost.
On 13 May 1671, Colonel Thomas Blood made an unsuccessful attempt to steal the crown jewels from the Tower of London, flattening the state crown with a mallet in the process.
A slight alteration to the crown was made for the coronation of James II. It was later judged too heavy and broken up under the reign of Queen Anne, replaced by the State Crown of George I.
Description
Sir Edward Walker, who was Garter King of Arms under Charles II, provided a sketch of the crown in his account of the 1661 coronation. Fox-Davies's 1909 A Complete Guide to Heraldry does not put much weight on the sketch, but makes use of the bare setting of the crown owned by the Lord Amherst of Hackney which shows distinct spaces for the Stuart Sapphire and the Black Prince's Ruby.
William Jones's 1883 Crowns and Coronations: a History of Regalia describes the crown of state as, 'garnished with a profusion of diamonds and other jewels, but was particularly remarkable from being embellished with an emerald seven inches in circumference, a pearl of large size, and a ruby set in the middle of one of the four crosses, esteemed (according to Sandford) at £10,000.'
Gallery
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The empty setting of the State Crown of Charles II
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Drawing from Fox-Davies's 1909 A Complete Guide to Heraldry
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The crown as set for James II in 1685, from Francis Sandford's The History of the Coronation of James II…
See also
References
- ^ A circumstantial account of the preparations for the coronation of his majesty king Charles the second, and a minute detail of that splendid ceremony , p. 29, at Google Books
- ^ Jones, William (1883). Crowns and Coronations: a History of Regalia. London: Chatto & Windus. p. 43–44. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
- ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1909). "Chapter 22" . A Complete Guide to Heraldry . London: T. C. & E. C. Jack. pp. 356–359 – via Wikisource.
Charles II.'s State Crown is figured in Sir Edward Walker's account of his coronation, but the illustration of it is of such an elementary character that little reliance can be placed on it; the actual setting of this crown, however—which was the one stolen by Colonel Blood on May 13, 1671—is now the property of Lord Amherst of Hackney, and the spaces from which the great ruby and the large sapphire—both of which are now in King Edward's State crown—have been taken are clearly seen (Fig. 637).
- ^ "The Crown of State of George I". The Burlington Magazine. 19: 241. 1911. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
Further evidence of the presence of in ... the crown of Charles II, the actual setting of which, showing the position of the ruby, was in the possession of the late Lord Amherst of Hackney...
- Jewels and Plate of Queen Elizabeth I: The Inventory of 1574 , p. 266, at Google Books
- A circumstantial account of the preparations for the coronation of his majesty king Charles the second, and a minute detail of that splendid ceremony at Google Books
- "The Crown Jewels". Historic Royal Palaces. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- The Theft of the Crown Jewels, 19 October 2023, retrieved 24 October 2023
- Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1909). "Chapter 23" . A Complete Guide to Heraldry . London: T. C. & E. C. Jack. p. 379 – via Wikisource.
- Sandford, Francis (1687). The History of the Coronation of … James II … and of his Royal Consort, Queen Mary. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
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| †Lost/destroyed | |||||||||