9 May 2023: Which controversial jewel did Queen Camilla wear during the coronation? The story behind Kohinoor - "the Cursed Stone"!
At the coronation, King Charles' wife Queen Consort Camilla wore a crown that had already been created but had undergone changes because of numerous controversies. During the service, Camilla put on a customized replica of Queen Mary's crown.
The replica of the Kohinoor diamond, whose original version was first put on Queen Mary's Crown in 1911, was removed as part of the alterations to the crown.
Before being given to Queen Victoria by the East India Company's deputy chairman in the 1840s, the diamond was held by numerous emperors. Before being given to Queen Victoria by the East India Company's deputy chairman in the 1840s, the diamond was held by numerous emperors.
Read the entire background here:
According to Buckingham Palace, Camilla's crown was instead adorned with the Cullinan III, IV, and V diamonds as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. The diamonds, also referred to as the "Lesser stars of Africa," are a collection of gems that were found in South Africa in 1905.
They are disputed since King Edward VII received the Cullinan diamond as a "symbolic gesture" from the Transvaal government of South Africa, which had previously bought it.
Last year a petition calling for the return of the Great Star of Africa and its display in a South African museum received more than 6,000 signatures.
Vuyolwethu Zungula, a South African lawmaker, asked his nation to "demand reparations for all the harm done by Britain" and to "demand the return of all the gold, diamonds, and other valuables stolen by Britain."
African nations have struggled relentlessly to reclaim cultural artifacts taken by colonial forces. A London museum agreed to return 72 items last year that were taken during a British military operation in 1897 from the Kingdom of Benin in southern Nigeria.