On Camilla’s crown there will be the diamond disputed with India, Carlo thinks of an alternative. Not the first time that post-colonialism enters the court. As with the golden chariot which the King of Holland gave up
The crown of Queen Camilla and the diamond of discord. One day after the announcement of the date of May 6 for the coronation of Charles III and with him of the new queen at his side, discontent comes from India for that fabulous diamond, the Koh-i-Noor set in the crown that in 1937 it rested on the head of the queen consort of George VI (the Queen Mum, to accompany her also on the day of her funeral) and which should now rest on that of Camilla at the time of her coronation. As it has been for centuries, queen after queen.
But the new times that have already imposed on Charles to file ceremonial and pomp, risk to force him to change even some of the “sacred” objects of each ritual of the crown. So much so that Buckingham Palace – after the protests of the spokesman of the majority Indian party the Bharatiya Janata Party who said there is a risk of turning the clock back in time to colonialism on India – would be considering other options. In short, other jewels, royal crowns for the ceremony. The gem was “stolen” for the Indians in 1849 from the young owner Dhalip Singh, legitimately purchased according to the British. In any case, there were protests already at the funeral of the Queen Mum.
Carlo, who recently met Prime Minister Modi, has no intention of immediately creating embarrassments (let alone while the post-Brexit negotiations with the country are in a stalemate). And then Carlo himself has always said that his coronation would have been in the sign if not of a low cost version, of a new opening to multiculturalism, respect and new times.
As for the low cost – between diamonds, scepters, globe and golden chariot, and again British aristocrats and all the world Gotha, kings, queens and princes with planetary leaders who will arrive in London, it will not (really) be low profile. So much so that record audiences are expected for all media for the 6 May date of the coronation. Date at which number 10 Downing Street, putting aside fears about the effects on annual GDP of an extra day of celebration, would also be thinking of a possible extension with a Bank holiday.
Speaking of the golden chariot, there is a recent precedent, that of the golden carriage of the king of Holland. Just a few months ago, King William Alexander had to get rid of it. With Queen Mxima he has decided that they will do without it. Many Dutch people suffer discrimination today and the past risks casting shadows on the present, the king admitted speaking in a video message to his fellow citizens. To announce that he will no longer use Queen Wilhelmina’s historic carriage: We cannot rewrite the past, but we can at least try to come to terms with history.
The offending chariot, given in 1898 by the city of Amsterdam to the first sovereign woman of Holland, with its gold, the stuccoes, a display of the wealth accumulated by the Netherlands at the time of the rich colonial empire. And above all frescoed, by the painter Nicolaas van der Waay, with scenes of raw imperial life that clash with today’s Holland.
One panel shows indigenous peoples of Indonesia, the Antilles and other conquered lands, prostrating themselves before the personification of the Dutch throne.
So a petition had asked the king to stop using it after a restoration worth approximately $ 1.5 million.
Also the historic British Gold Coach who took Elizabeth II to her coronation in 1953 and who is now to bring King Charles III to the solemn rite in the abbey, which has just been restored for the Platinum Jubilee. But no one in London is going to get rid of it, at least that one doesn’t have uncomfortable paintings.
October 13, 2022 (change October 13, 2022 | 08:57)
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