King Charles' coronation: Here's why His Majesty will wear two crowns and one is worth £5 billion

The Royal Family’s jewellery, crown and tiara collection is remarkable, to say the least. Some items in their collection are worth thousands and even millions of pounds. It’s a wonder they wear the jewellery at events without worrying about damaging the jewels.

The Royal Family’s most expensive jewellery is usually brought out for special occasions such as weddings, where the women wear tiaras and Princess Eugenie’s overshadowed both Meghan and Princess Kate. The various jewels in the family are often shared between members.

Indeed we often see Princess Kate wearing some of the late Queen’s pieces which Queen Elizabeth would lend her for events. In fact, it is believed that Princess Kate inherited one of the late Queen’s most prized pieces of jewellery.

King Charles' coronation will feature two crowns

Given that a coronation is by far the grandest event for the Royal Family, we can expect all the finest jewels owned by the monarchy will be on display on this huge day.

In fact, the King is expected to wear not one, but two crowns at his coronation.

He will wear the Imperial State Crown as he exits Westminster Abbey at the end of the ceremony and also wear St Edward’s Crown. He will be officially crowned with St Edward’s Crown which is usually on display in the Tower of London.

This crown is decorated with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnets, topazes and tourmalines. As reported by AP News, the crown has a solid gold frame that weighs 4.9 lbs (2.2 kg).

The reason King Charles will have two crowns is so he doesn’t have to wear St Edward’s Crown for too long as it is particularly heavy. The Imperial State Crown is much lighter but also is worth more than you could ever imagine.

The Imperial State Crown costs a whopping £5 billion

According to financial analysts at Cashfloat, the Imperial State Crown is the Royal Family’s most prized and expensive item in their collection.

As reported by Express, the crown is estimated to be worth around £5 billion. The financial analysts at Cashfloat said:

At the end of the Coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the monarch wears the Imperial State Crown.

This breathtaking headpiece is composed of gold and set with an impressive array of gems: 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 269 pearls, and four rubies.

The Imperial State Crown is used for the coronation of every British monarch. The current version of the Imperial State Crown was made for King Charles’ grandfather, King George VI’s coronation in 1937.

Read more:

⋙ Princess Anne inherits Queen Elizabeth's most treasured possession worth £1 million

⋙ Queen Camilla to make history with £50m changes to crown for coronation

⋙ Princess Charlotte set to inherit Princess Diana's treasured possession worth £400K

Sources used:

Express: ‘King Charles's Coronation crown is more expensive than Kate's £66.3million necklace’

AP News: 'King’s coronation: 3 crowns, 2 carriages and a shorter route'

Cashfloat