In London, the Imperial State Crown will be placed on the coffin and at the Coronation the Archbishop of Canterbury will place the Crown of St Edward on the King’s head. The Queen Consort will wear the newest of the four crowns, the Queen Elizabeth Crown, which was made for the late Queen Mother in 1937. Everything will have to be resized, especially the three that the King will wear, as he has a bigger head than his late mother. This may involve considerable work to increase the size of the crown circles and add extra stones, the reverse of the process undertaken to make them smaller for the late Queen. Any customization work is expected to be carried out by Mark Appleby of Mappin & Webb, the current jeweller. It is possible that the Imperial State Crown may need further processing as its arches were made smaller for the late Queen to give it a more feminine look.
The Crown of Scotland
The oldest of all royal regalia, worn by the monarch at the opening of the Scottish Parliament, was placed on Queen Elizabeth’s coffin as it arrived at St Giles’ Cathedral from the Palace of Holyroodhouse earlier this week. Made of solid gold, it pre-dates the Union and in its current form was made in 1540 after King James V of Scotland ordered it to be remodeled from the previous crown, which had begun to crumble. After the gems were removed, an additional 41 ounces of Scotch gold was melted down and added, before the 22 gems and 68 pearls were set. Originally lined with a purple bonnet, it has had a red bonnet since the time of James II (James VII of Scotland) and weighs 3lb 10oz (1.64kg). It is kept in Edinburgh Castle as part of the Honors of Scotland.
The Imperial State Crown
The most famous of all tiaras, worn by the monarch at the opening of parliament, will be placed on the late queen’s coffin when it leaves Buckingham Palace en route to Westminster Hall on Wednesday.
