Crown of the British Empire: the history of creation. Crowns of the British and Russian Empire

Her Excellency Crown of the British Empire -a relic that evokes admiration, a captivating gaze, is shrouded in legends, stories and stories. They tried to seize and conquer it. She talks a lot about it, but the current generation knows very little. The crown of the British Empire is not just a jewel of the Queen of Great Britain, symbolizing power; it is first and foremost the great story of a majestic state, it is the heritage of the people and the priceless regalia of a huge kingdom.

Kind of a power crown

Crown of the British Empire is a jewelryThe creation is made similar to the crown of St. Edward. It is a crown trimmed with priceless stones, on which crosses with heraldic lilies alternate. Above the crosses stands a half-pearl decorated with pearls. The half-circle is closed by a ball on which the cross is located. Jewelry creations weighs 910 grams. The basis is a velvet, purple cap with a white edge, also decorated with stones. A miracle of jewelry art contains:

• Two thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight diamonds.
• Two hundred and seventy-three pearls.
• seventeen sapphires.
• Eleven emeralds.
• Five rubies.

Precious stones in the crown of the British Empirehave their own history. Separate attention deserve: the sapphire of St. Edward, the ruby ​​of the black prince, the Cullinan II diamond (also called the small star of Africa), the Stuart sapphire.

Sapphire of St. Edward

The stone is located on the top of the crown. The oldest sapphire, installed in the cross. The legend says that the stone was the value of Edward the Confessor, whose reign falls at the beginning of the eleventh century. Sapphire is shrouded in legend. The ring with sapphire was donated to the beggar. Many years later he miraculously returned to the ruler along with a prediction of his imminent demise. Predictions have come true. Only this miracles did not end there. A few centuries later, the tomb of St. Edward was opened. And what was the surprise of the English, when they saw that the body of St. Edward absolutely did not suffer any changes and remained the same. It is worth mentioning that he was buried with a ring. After the opening of the grave people began to believe that the sapphire is endowed with medicinal properties and allegedly heals all diseases. Today, a wonder stone adorns the very top of the crown of the British Empire.

Ruby of the Black Prince

The treasure belonged to Edward of Wales, inThe mourning for the deceased bride he wore exclusively black backgammon. Hence the name of the jewel. He decorated the crown of the monarchs for more than one century. According to ancient tales, it brings good luck and protects from the dangers of the monarchs of the empire.

Cullinan Diamond II

The small star of Africa is a particle of the largestdiamond in the world (three thousand one hundred and six six carats), which was found at the beginning of the XX century. But over time, it appeared not large cracks. Diamond decided to split into many small particles. As a result of the split, a pair of large diamonds, seven medium-sized diamonds and ninety-six small ones were obtained. One of the two largest to this day is located on the British crown, and the second on the scepter.

Sapphire Stewart

Sapphire for a long time belonged to the noble familyThe Stuarts. He was the legacy of many monarchs, passed from mother to child, until eventually became an ornament of the symbol of power of Queen Victoria. At first he decorated the jewelery in front, but then was moved back. It weighs 104 carats.

Crown of the British Empire: the history of creation

The history of the above-mentioned crown has an interestingorigin. It suffered many transformations, it was destroyed and restored again, collected by parts, made exact copies of previous samples. This is not just a jewelry piece of the monarch. The Imperial Crown of the British Empire is the property of the United Kingdom, a symbol of power and position in society.

In the 17th century, Britain renounced the monarchy. The British decided to completely get rid of all the attributes of the kingdom. They committed an act of vandalism, breaking the royal crown. Precious stones and pearls were seized and sold, gold is melted. But this is by no means all the trials that the crown of British power has endured.

The history of the crown of St. Edward is generally coveredsecret. Quite contradictory are all the legends concerning the relic. One of the stories says that the crown sank with all the gold in 1216. But if you study the materials in detail, it becomes clear that she simply disappeared. The exact facts pointing to the fact that the crown drowned, no. It may well be that it was hidden by John the Landless. The next few centuries the crown was altered by all who could. Precious stones changed over and over again. Her weight changed constantly. She was constantly heavier and immediately relieved. That's what remained unchanged in the crown of St. Edward, so this is design. It was a crown adorned with four crosses, alternating with lilies, over which rose the half-hearted converging into a ball with a cross. The size of the product has also been repeatedly changed. In the middle of the 1600s the crown will again suffer tremendous transformations. Oliver Cromwell will give the name to the crown: "a symbol of disgusting royal self-government" and will order to get rid of it. In 1660, Charles II completely restored the symbol of the greatness of his dynasty. But on this the transformations of the royal crown will not stop.

Wilhelm and Georgi make a goodthe head symbol of kings and queens. The crowns of power under their rule will acquire rather bizarre forms. And only in the early 1800s Queen Victoria would stop this mess. It will establish a single state relic. But fate decides otherwise - in 1845 during the parliamentary session, the crown will be dropped by the court duke Argyll. And again the symbol of the monarchy will be the crown of St. Edward.

The changes awaited the crown of power back in 1937 and 1953, but they were quite insignificant. Until now, the crown of the British Empire has remained unchanged.

Nowadays, the Queen of Great Britain does not wear a crown every day. It is worn only in two cases:

1. Exclusively before the monarch goes to the coronation. It is strange that the symbol of the kingdom does not participate in the coronation.
2. The monarch dresses the sign of power before the opening of the session of Parliament.

Crowns of the power of other states

The crown is a symbol of the monarch's power. The greatest Russian empire was no exception, the emperor's power was also symbolized by the crown. To be more precise, the Empress. In 1762 the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire was executed, which was crowned by Catherine II. It was made of gold and silver. The crown of the empire was strewn with diamonds. The only condition was the weight of the crown, he should not exceed two kilograms. The jeweler's wonder was ready already two months after the order. It was the most famous crown of the empire, it symbolized the upper power. It has the form of a headdress of sultans (a gold rim, which is the foundation of two hemispheres). The hemisphere is made of silver encrusted with diamonds. Hemispheres, separated by a wreath, on which a cross is placed with five diamonds. In the crown placed 4936 diamonds, as well as 72 pearls. The height of the crown is 27.5 cm. Ruby, who decorated the crown, was purchased in 1672. A very famous gem that adorns more than one crown of emperors.

Any revolution brings ruin to the state. October was no exception. The country became impoverished, the crown of the empire became collateral. And only in 1950 the value of the greatest Russian Empire returned to the state.

The crowns of the British and Russian empire are fulfilledwith a lot of precious stones, they symbolize the greatest power of monarchs, who worship only before the Most High. The power of the monarch is power from God.

Similarities of the crowns of power

If you are asked to: "Compare the imperial crowns of the British Empire and the Russian Empire," then you will surely follow a certain similarity. It is the purpose of the crown. Any crown, as has already been seen before, is a symbol of the power of the monarch, the power of the empire.

Both crowns (British and Russian) are made withusing a huge number of diamonds, sapphires, pearls, they can safely be called the invaluable property of the great powers. It's not just expensive jewelry - it's royal regalia.

The cross on the crowns symbolizes the divine beginning. The monarch is not just a man, he is a lord, worshiping only before God.

The difference between the crowns of power

Imperial crowns of the British Empire and the Russian Empire have the following differences:

• The crown of Russia, unlike the crown of Britainempire, symbolizes the reunification of the East and West after the victory over the Ottoman Empire. Vertical rim with a cross is a symbol of the Ural mountains. Pearls are lined with V-shaped form and say about the great victories of the empire (victoria).
• The crown of the British Empire is made using precious stones, which in themselves have a huge history and great significance for the state
• The Russian crown at the moment is the historical property of the Russian Federation, but the British is the state regalia.
• The history of the British crown is rooted in the distant past. It is shrouded in stories and legends. While the jewelry miracle of the Russian Empire was born only in 1762.
• The crown of the British Empire has suffered many transformations, unlike the crown of Russia.

Instead of an afterword

Undoubtedly, the crowns of empires have many differences,probably, in general there is no sense in making a comparison between the crown of the British Empire and the Russian Empire. It's not just jewelry of various sizes and weights, crowns are first and foremost symbols of completely different states. One carries a great history, the second - a great sense. But in one and the second case it is an invaluable asset of the people, who are proud, cherished and extolled for many centuries.