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[Illustration: HIS MAJESTY GEORGE V From the Painting by Sir Luke
Fildes, K.C.V.O.]
THE CROWN JEWELS OF ENGLAND.
_By_
MAJOR-GENERAL SIR GEORGE YOUNGHUSBAND,
K.C.M.G., K.C.I.E., C.B.
(Keeper of the Jewel House, Tower of London),
_and_
CYRIL DAVENPORT, V.D., F.S.A.
[Illustration: _The Coronation of Harold II., afterwards killed at the
Battle of Hastings, from the Bayeux Tapestry_]
CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD
London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
1919
DEDICATED
BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION
TO
HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V.
PREFACE
Since the reign of Queen Elizabeth there has been no greater period
in the history of the British race than is to be found in the reign
of George V. At the end of a war greater than has been known in the
history of the world, after four-and-a-half years of heroic effort and
untold sacrifice, the Standard of England flies more proudly than it
did in the days of the Great Armada. Future generations will look back
on this reign as one of the great triumphant eras in the history of
nations proud of their British blood, and who speak the English tongue.
Everything to do with this reign will be of as great an interest to
unborn generations as is still at our day the inspiring echo of the
Elizabethan era. To-day we should be intensely gratified if we could
see the Crown and Sceptre of the Queen who reigned in those great days.
They, as this record will show, have gone beyond recall, and no worthy
presentment of them remains. It is in the hope that the same reproach
may not be levied against this generation that the present book is
written.
The Crown Jewels of England are historically and, indeed, intrinsically
of a value impossible to compute. The Crown of England is older than
any Crown in Europe, and is worn by a Sovereign with more ancient a
lineage than any of the Royal families of the Western world. Set in the
Crown and emblems of royalty are jewels which have their origin in the
mists of antiquity, others which count their age only by centuries,
whilst some saw the light of day within the lifetime of the present
King. But great or small, ancient or new, the Crown Jewels are the hall
marks of the British Empire and of British Sovereignty.
In close connection with the Throne and with the Crown Jewels are
matters of interest such as the Royal Plate at the Tower, the Vestments
worn by His Majesty at his Coronation, and the ancient chair in which
he is crowned. It has, therefore, been deemed of interest to include
some reference to these as cognate subjects in the present work.
The frontispiece is a reproduction of Sir Luke Fildes’ fine picture of
His Majesty, which is at Windsor Castle. The full-page illustrations of
the Royal Crowns, and other portions of the Regalia, are from enlarged
photographs, and may be relied upon as exact representations.
The small illustrations in the text are made from drawings, and they
will, it is hoped, make the subject matter clearer than it otherwise
would be. This is deemed more especially necessary for a clear
understanding when dealing with the growth of the form of the Royal
Crown.
All books which deal with the details of the insignia of Royalty in
England have been carefully examined; of these, those which have been
found of most value, and of which free use has been made, are:--
The _Liber Regalis_, at Westminster.
Rymer’s _Fœdera_.
Sir Edward Walker’s _The Preparations for His Majestie’s
Coronation at Westminster, the 23rd of Aprill, 1661_. MS.
John Ogilvy. _The Entertainment of His Most Excellent Majestie
Charles II., etc._ London, 1662.
Francis Sandford. _The History of the Coronation of the Most
High Monarch James II._, etc. In the Savoy, 1687.
_The Ceremonial of the Coronation of His Most Sacred Majesty
King George the Fourth._ [By Sir George Nayler, Garter King
of Arms.] Westminster, 1823.
William Jones. _Crowns and Coronations._ London, 1883.
William Chaffers. _Gilda Aurifabrorum, a History of English
Goldsmiths_, etc. London, 1883.
J. Wickham Legg. _The Sacring of the English Kings_, etc.
London, 1894.
Cyril Davenport. _The English Regalia._ London, 1897.
E. A. Jones. _Old Royal Plate in the Tower of London._ London,
1908.
Garrard. _The Story of Garrards_, etc. London, 1911.
The sketches of details from the Great Seals have generally been taken
from the Seals themselves, and have been checked by reference to
the admirable book on the Great Seals of England by Alfred B. Wyon,
completed by Allan Wyon, London, 1887.
The drawings from the coins are in many cases from the coins
themselves, but in this work much assistance has been received from
Rogers Ruding’s _Annals of the Coinage of Britain_, etc. London, 1819.
GEORGE YOUNGHUSBAND,
CYRIL DAVENPORT.
TOWER OF LONDON,
1919.
CONTENTS
PREFACE vii
I. THE CORONATION 1
II. THE REGALIA 5
III. THE ROYAL CROWNS 12
IV. THE ROYAL SCEPTRES 25
V. THE ROYAL ORBS 31
VI. THE LESSER REGALIA 34
VII. THE KING’S PLATE 41
VIII. THE GREATER GEMS IN THE JEWEL HOUSE 53
IX. THE THRONE OF ENGLAND 59
X. THE REGAL VESTMENTS 64
APPENDICES
A. LIST OF THE CROWN JEWELS AND PLATE IN THE
JEWEL HOUSE, TOWER OF LONDON, A.D. 1919 73
B. THE CORONATION SERVICE (SUCH
PORTIONS AS ARE CONCERNED WITH THE REGALIA) 74
C. KEEPERS OF THE REGALIA 80
INDEX 83
LIST OF PLATES
HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V. (_frontispiece_)
I. ST. EDWARD’S CROWN
II. THE IMPERIAL STATE CROWN
III. THE IMPERIAL CROWN OF INDIA
IV. THE CROWN OF QUEEN MARY OF MODENA, CONSORT OF JAMES II.
V. THE DIADEM OF QUEEN MARY OF MODENA, CONSORT OF JAMES II.
VI. THE STATE CROWN OF QUEEN MARY, CONSORT OF GEORGE V.
VII. THE PRINCE OF WALES’ CROWN
VIII. THE KING’S ROYAL SCEPTRE
IX. THE QUEEN’S SCEPTRE WITH THE DOVE
THE KING’S SCEPTRE WITH THE DOVE
X. THE QUEEN’S IVORY ROD
ST. EDWARD’S STAFF
XI. THE KING’S ORB
XII. THE QUEEN’S ORB
XIII. THE AMPULLA
XIV. THE ANOINTING SPOON
XV. THE JEWELLED STATE SWORD
THE SWORD OF STATE
“CURTANA” OR SWORD OF MERCY
XVI. QUEEN ELIZABETH’S SALT-CELLAR
XVII. THE BRACELETS
ST. GEORGE’S SPURS
XVIII. SERJEANT-AT-ARMS’ MACE
CHAPTER I
THE CORONATION
The Coronation of Kings from the Time of Æthelred II.--The
Coronation Book of Richard II.--The Ordering of the
Ceremony--The Emblems of Royalty: the Crown, the Ring, the
Sceptres--Origin of the Sceptre--The Priestly and Military
Co-ordination in the Ceremony--The Orb and its meaning--The
Sword and Spurs, which are the Military Emblems--Coronation
of Charles II.--Of William and Mary--And of George IV.--His
Coronation Book cost £238,238--The Cap of Maintenance of
George IV., and that of Queen Elizabeth--Coronation Precedents
followed to this day.
There are many authorities for the order of the coronations in England
to be found at the British Museum, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford,
and in the muniment-room at Westminster Abbey, and in all material
points they resemble each other very closely. From the time of Æthelred
II., in the tenth century, down to the latest coronation, the leading
features have been the anointing, the vesting, the crowning, and the
presentation of the sceptre; and it is remarkable also that in most of
these ceremonials there is mention of a second or state crown. The most
concise and complete account of the ceremony of coronation is to be
found in a little vellum manuscript now preserved in the muniment-room
at Westminster Abbey, and known as the _Liber Regalis_. The order given
in this book is supposed to have been used at the coronation of Richard
II., although it is probably a compilation from an earlier manuscript,
and appears to have been written about 1350. The order generally,
as given in the _Liber Regalis_, is, after certain preliminary
formalities--
The Anointing.
Then after much delay and careful ablutions, which were very elaborate
and tedious, came the vesting with the royal garments--
1. The Colobium Sindonis, always a simple linen garment.
2. The Tunicle or Dalmatic, described as “Tunica talaris cum
ymaginibus, cum caligis, sandariis et calcaribus,” _i.e._
3. Shoes, buskins and spurs. Then comes
4. The Sword, and
5. The Stole or Armilla, “iste quidem armille in modum stole circa
collum et ab utraque scapula usque ad compages brachiorum erunt
dependentes,” from which it appears that the stole was not worn crossed
but hanging straight down on each side.
6. The Imperial Mantle, “Pallium regale quadrum cum aquilis aureis.”
These eagles have retained their place on the imperial mantle ever
since, but they are described as of gold, whereas now they are silver;
and although the dalmatic is said to have had designs upon it, there is
no detailed mention of them.
Next the sovereign is endued with the actual emblems of royalty,
The Crown;
The Ring;
The Sceptres.
There are two kinds of sceptres mentioned: the first with a cross,
to be held in the right hand, “Deinde dabitur ei sceptrum in manu
dextra, quod quidem sceptrum aureum est, in cujus summitate crux parua
collocatur.” The other, bearing a dove, is to be held in the left hand,
“Post modum tradatur ei uirga in manu sinistra, que quidem uirga aurea
est habens in summitate columbam auream”; and it is interesting to
note that in Sir George Hayter’s picture of the coronation of Queen
Victoria, she is represented as holding both these sceptres exactly
in this manner, the only important difference being that the dove at
the top of the sceptre in her left hand is white instead of gold as
described. The _Liber Regalis_ has three full-page illustrations, but
too much reliance cannot be placed on any of the representations of
the regalia which occur in illuminated manuscripts, as it was easy for
the illuminator to follow his own fancy, as he undoubtedly often did.
Indeed, even when previous coronations are described and illustrated,
the mediæval artists having no idea of antiquarian accuracy, their
illustrations serve only as indications of the fashions obtaining at
the actual time of writing.
In the ceremony of coronation the double character of the sovereign is
shown very clearly--the priestly character, however, preponderating
over the military. The ceremonies of the anointing and the sequence
of prayers used closely resemble the procedure at the consecration
of a bishop, and the vestments are, if not quite the same, at least
analogous to those worn by a bishop. The colobium sindonis may be taken
for the alb or rochet, the dalmatic is common to both, as are the stole
and the ring; and the imperial mantle, “four-square,” takes the place
of the cope. The sceptre is probably derived from the shepherd’s staff,
through the crozier of a bishop; it may, however, be a survival of
the ceremonial spear which appears to have been presented to kings at
their coronations among several nations of antiquity. The crown in the
same way corresponds with the mitre of a bishop. The orb alone, which
has been used by all our kings since Edward the Confessor, appears,
so far as can be traced, to stand alone as an emblem of independent
sovereignty, and has no connection with either a priest or a soldier.
The military emblems are the sword and spurs. In all the earlier
coronation ceremonies smaller insignia were also used; the most
important of which were the buskins, the sandals, and the gloves, but
these have now fallen into disuse.
A valuable book concerning the coronation of Charles II. was written
by John Ogilvy. It is called _The Entertainment of His Most Excellent
Majestie Charles II. in his passage through the City of London to his
Coronation_, etc., printed in London in 1662. The procession plates are
by Wenceslaus Hollar, and they are very carefully and accurately drawn.
The King is shown under the canopy, carried by the barons of the Cinque
Ports, and wears on his head only the royal cap of crimson velvet,
turned up with miniver.
Sandford also gives careful and valuable representations of the
different parts of the coronation procession.
The coronation of William and Mary stands quite alone in the history
of our coronations, as, during their reign as joint sovereigns, we
possessed an actual King and an actual Queen. William declined to
be Regent, and Mary refused to accept the crown, except with her
husband, so it became in fact necessary that they should become
joint sovereigns. This, of course, necessitated the making of a new
orb, the smaller one now in the Tower. On their Great Seal they are
represented as each having one hand upon a large orb; and in a print in
the Bagford collection in the British Museum, dated 1689, and called
the “Protestants’ Joy,” William and Mary are shown sitting under one
canopy, each crowned and bearing a sceptre-fleury in the right hand,
and an orb with a cross in the left.
The next important book concerning the coronations of our kings was
that issued under the authority, and by the care of, Sir George Nayler,
Garter King of Arms, published in London in 1839, and illustrated
magnificently by several artists--Stephanoff and others. The official
cost of the book was £238,238, and it is an account of the coronation
of George IV., July 19th, 1821, which was the most magnificent that
has ever been held in England. Some £5,000 were allowed to Sir George
Nayler by the Government towards the cost of this splendid work, but
even including this, as well as the fees paid by several peers for
their portraits, the book is said to have been a financial failure. It
not only shows the manner in which the various items of the regalia
were carried in the procession, but the details of the official
costume of the peers are so carefully reproduced that it may be fairly
considered the best existing authority on that subject also. The Dean
of Westminster is shown as carrying what is called the “New Crown,”
the setting of which was in the possession of the late Lord Amherst
of Hackney. The cap still remaining within it is of blue velvet. As a
general rule, the caps of English peers and sovereigns have been of
crimson or royal purple velvet, but in the case of this state crown
of George IV., and in that of Queen Elizabeth, the colour has been
blue. It may be added, however, that the only authority existing for
the blue cap in a crown of Queen Elizabeth’s is a charming little book
that was bound for her about 1570 in crimson velvet and adorned with
enamels on gold, and which now forms part of the “Old Royal” Library in
the British Museum. In the centre of the upper side of this book there
is a golden diamond-shaped plaque, on which is enamelled a red rose,
ensigned with a royal crown having a blue cap. It cannot be said that
this is an absolute authority, but in Queen Elizabeth’s time the art
of heraldry was much more exact than it is now, and it seems unlikely
that so great a difference as that between blue and red would have been
lightly made, especially on a book evidently intended for the Queen’s
own use.
The coronation of kings and queens of England to this day follows with
great exactitude the precedents initiated or evolved in former reigns.
These are set forth in full detail in Appendix B.