As Queen Elizabeth II lies in state forward of her funeral, the Imperial State Crown sits on high of her coffin. That is one in every of two crowns belonging to the Crown Jewels the queen has worn for official occasions. Per Historic Royal Palaces, St. Edward’s Crown was made in 1661 for the coronation of Charles II; Queen Elizabeth II was topped with it when she took the throne in 1953. Made with a strong gold body encrusted with semi-precious stones, it weighs 2.23kg (4.9lbs). The official coronation portrait of Queen Elizabeth, although, reveals her carrying the Imperial State Crown, as St. Edward’s Crown is simply used “in the intervening time of crowning itself,” in line with the location.

The Imperial State Crown was made for the coronation of King George VI in 1937 and has been handed down by the monarchs. It’s manufactured from gold and virtually 3,000 diamonds, plus sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and pearls, in line with Historic Royal Palaces. Queen Elizabeth II wore the crown — which weighs in at 1.06kg (2.3 lbs) — annually for the State Opening of Parliament, per BBC.

In a filmed interview with BBC (through YouTube), Queen Elizabeth II spoke about carrying the crown. Resulting from its weight, the queen famous that “as soon as you place it on, it stays. It simply stays on.” Though, she did comply with one trick to maintain it in place. “You may’t look right down to learn the speech, it’s a must to take the speech up. As a result of if you happen to did, your neck would break; [the crown] would fall off.” She concluded, “So there are some disadvantages to crowns, however in any other case, they’re fairly necessary issues.”