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The story of the Imperial State Crown

The most important items used in the coronation are the monarch’s two crowns. If the Queen has only worn St Edward’s gold crown once, she is much more familiar with this: the diamond-encrusted Imperial State Crown. She wore it at the end of her coronation and for most State Openings of Parliament since.

Queen: You see, it’s much smaller, isn’t it?

Interviewer: Significantly.

Queen: I mean, it was … it was the same height. You know, it would be, it would have been up to about there when my father wore it.

Interviewer: I mean, it was huge then.

Queen: Yes, very un… unwieldy.

Interviewer: It’s difficult to always remember that diamonds are stones, so very heavy.

Queen: Yes. Fortunately, my father and I have about, about the same sort of shaped head. But once you put it on, it stays. I mean it just remains, itself.

Interviewer: You have to keep your head very still.

Queen: Yes. And you can’t look down to read the speech. You have to take the speech up. Because if you did, your neck would break or it would fall off! So there are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise they’re quite important things.