George IV commissioned Rundell & Bridge to make the diadem in 1820 at a cost of £8,216. The fee included a hire charge of £800 for the diamonds but there is no evidence they were ever returned to the jewellers.[1] George IV wore the diadem over his velvet cap of maintenance in the procession to his coronation at Westminster Abbey.[2] These are the equivalent of £700,000 and £60,000 in 2019, respectively.[3]
The gold and silver frame, measuring 7.5 centimetres (3.0 in) tall and 19 centimetres (7.5 in) in diameter, is decorated with 1,333 diamonds weighing a total of 320 carats (64 g), including a four-carat yellow diamond in the front cross pattée.[4] Along the base are two strings of pearls. Originally, the upper string had 86 pearls and the lower 94, but they were changed to 81 and 88 in 1902.[5] Instead of the heraldic fleurs-de-lis usually seen on British crowns, the diadem has four bouquets of roses, thistles and shamrocks, the floral symbols of England, Scotland and Ireland respectively,[6] alternating with four crosses pattée around the top of its base.
Sculpture used to make the Machin series of stamps
The iconic piece of jewellery has featured in many portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, including one painted by Lucian Freud in 2001[11] and one by Raphael Maklouf in 1984 that appears on Commonwealth coinage.
Arnold Machin designed an earlier portrait in the 1960s that was used on coins and the Machin series of postage stamps in the UK.[12]
^"Normally the stones would have been returned to Rundells after the coronation, but in this case there is no sign that the delicately worked diamond sprays and crosses, a masterpiece of the new transparent style of setting, have been disturbed. Equally, there is no evidence that the King purchased the stones outright, so it could be that the bill was met by a discreet barter of old stones from George IV's extensive collection." https://www.rct.uk/collection/31702/the-diamond-diadem
Short video on YouTube by the Royal Collection Trust (2022)
Media related to George IV State Diadem at Wikimedia Commons
