by Alex David
The Timur Ruby
Once considered the largest ruby in the world this
unfaceted stone is now known to be a spinel, weighing 352.5 carats. Indian tradition holds that the gem was 644
once owned by Timur, also known as Tamerlane, the
great 13th century ruler of Central Asia. It was later owned by his descendants, the Mughal Emperors of
India, four of whom inscribed their names on the stone, including Akbar, Jahangir and Aurangzeb. The ruby then passed through the hands of Persian and Afghan rulers as a spoil of war during the 18th and 19th centuries. The last Indian owner was the Maharajah of the Punjab who
relinquished the ruby to the British East India Company in 1849 along with the Koh-I-Noor diamond. The gem was taken to England, where it was first discovered that it was not a ruby but a spinel, and given to Queen Victoria in 1851. She placed it in a specially designed gold and diamond necklace which she sometimes wore before
Prince Albert died in 1861. The necklace and the ruby have not been worn by anyone else since, but are
sometimes shown as part of Royal Collection exhibitions.
The Cullinan Diamonds
The Cullinan Diamond, found in South Africa in 1905, remains at 3,106 carats the largest diamond ever found.
After it was presented to King Edward VII in 1907 it was sent to the firm of Asscher’s in Amsterdam to be cut in separate stones. (for more history see The First and Second Star of Africa in The Crown Jewels). The diamond was eventually cut by Asscher’s into nine large stones and 96 smaller stones. In the process, the Cullinan lost 2,050
carats of its weight, or 62.25% of its original size. The nine 645
principal stones were renamed Cullinan I to IX in order of size, from largest to smallest. Cullinan I and Cullinan II, weighing 530.2 and 317.40 carats, were renamed the
First Star and the Second Star of Africa and were set into the British Crown Jewels by King George V. Cullinan VI was bought privately by King Edward VII as a present for his wife Queen Alexandra during the diamond cutting process in 1908. The remaining stones were left with the firm of Asscher’s as payment for the cutting and polishing of Cullinan I and II, however the government of the Transvaal eventually bought the six remaining large diamonds once they were cut and polished, and
presented them to Queen Mary in 1910 to celebrate the founding of the Union of South Africa that year. Today, they continue to be used as personal jewels by the Royal Family, especially Queen Elizabeth II. They include:
Cullinan III and IV, respectively 94.40 and 63.60
carats, were at first placed by Queen Mary in her
Queen Consort Crown at the 1911 coronation. Since
then they have usually been worn together as a
brooch, with the pear-shaped Cullinan III hanging as a pendant from the cushion-shaped Cullinan IV.
Queen Elizabeth II usually wears this brooch on
special occasions only, the last time at her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012.
Cullinan V is heart-shaped and weighs 18.8 carats. It is set in a platinum brooch which can also be fit into 646
larger pieces, like the stomacher in the Delhi Durbar parure. The diamond was also set individually in
Queen Mary’s crown at the 1937 coronation of
George VI. Queen Elizabeth II has often worn it in its main setting as a brooch.
Cullinan VI, weighing 11.5 carats and purchased by Edward VII as a present for Queen Alexandra, was
modified by Queen Mary in 1925 to serve as a
pendant on other jewels. It is marquis-cut (oblong) and is currently hanging as a pendant from Cullinan VIII on a brooch.
Cullinan VII weighs 8.8 carats and is also marquis-cut. It is permanently set as a pendant in the Delhi Durbar neckace together with nine of the Cambridge
emeralds (see Delhi Durbar Parure and Cambridge Emeralds above).
Cullinan VIII, weighing 6.8 carats, is emerald-cut and was placed in a platinum brooch similar in style to the brooch of Cullinan V. It is currently worn with Cullinan VI as a pendant.
Cullinan IX is the smallest diamond at 4.4 carats and is pear-shape cut. It is set in a platinum ring that Queen Elizabeth II has often worn together with the other Cullinan stones.
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The Royal Philatelic
Collection
The Royal Philatelic Collection is the personal stamps collection of the British Monarchy. Housed in St James’s Palace, London, it is said to be the world’s most
comprehensive and important collection of postage
stamps from Great Britain and the British
Commonwealth.
History
The first serious stamp collector in the Royal Family was Prince Alfred, second son of Queen Victoria, who was given his first collector’s stamps in 1856, only 16 years after the first postage stamp was issued in Britain. He went to on to become a serious collector and became Honorary President of the Royal Philatelic Society. Alfred eventually sold his collection to his brother, the future Edward VII, and he in turn passed it to his own son, the future George V, who became the greatest stamp
collector in the history of the Royal Family.
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George V once remarked to his personal philatelic
advisor: "I wish to have the best collection & not one of the best collections in England." His passion was well known, and upon his marriage in 1893 members of the Royal Philatelic Society made him a wedding gift of 1,500
postage stamps from around the Empire. He amassed a remarkable stamp collection, mostly through bulk
purchases of current and old stamps (he was often given first offer by dealers of collections up for sale) but also through judicious purchases of rare issues. In 1904, when he was Prince of Wales, he famously bought at auction a rare, unused 1847 Two Pence Blue issue from the
Mauritius Post Office, paying a record price of £1,450 for it. When an unwitting courtier later told him that some
‘damned fool’ had spent over £1,400 on one silly stamp, George famously replied “I was that damned fool!”
After George V’s death his collection passed to Edward VIII, who briefly considered selling it, and then to George VI and to Elizabeth II, thereby establishing a pattern for the collection being passed down from monarch to
monarch. Although neither George VI nor Elizabeth II inherited George V’s personal passion for stamps, they both continued to add to the collection through
purchases of new issues and rare stamps, helped by the Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection, a permanent post created by George V. The Collection continues to grow today.
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The Collection
The collection consists almost entirely of British and Commonwealth material, and its strength is in the
completeness of its British holdings, particularly the very first British postal issues of the 1840s. There are also stamps with errors, oddities, and rare British Empire and Commonwealth issues. Besides stamps, the collection also includes stamp designs, proofs and colour trials including rare watercolours sketches for the first
proposed Penny Black stamp of 1840. Because the
monarch must approve any new stamp issue in the
United Kingdom, proofs and stamp design sheets have been continually added to the collection over the last century. There is very little material in the Collection from outside the British Commonwealth, the only exception being a stamp album said to have belonged to Tsarevich Alexis of Russia.
It is not known how many stamps are in the Collection as it has never been officially counted for total numbers.
George V’s own collection is stored in 328 ‘Red’ albums, each containing about 60 pages. Additions made by
George VI are stored in ‘Blue’ albums, and those made by Elizabeth II are in ‘Green’ albums. Not all stamps acquired since George V however have been mounted, and the
Royal Philatelic Collection estimates
that there is probably enough material to fill another 2,000 albums.
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Value and Access
It is impossible to put a monetary value on the Royal Philatelic Collection: nothing comparable in size and completeness has ever been sold on the market before, and it also includes items like designs and proofs which have never been auctioned previously. Among the most expensive individual items in the Collection are the Penny and Twopence Mauritius Post Office stamps acquired by George V at auction in 1904 (see above). These two
stamps were the first ones issued by a colony of the British Empire in 1847, only seven years after the first British issues, and less than 30 examples of them are in existence today. Based on recent past auctions, both items are now valued at between £1-1.5 million each.
Unlike items in the Royal Collection, the Royal Philatelic Collection does not belong to the nation but is privately owned by the monarch. Because of its importance and uniqueness however it is not considered a personal asset to trade in, but a family heirloom to hand down to future generations. Because much of the Collection is fragile, and much of it is still un-mounted, it is not unfortunately on general display to the public, and remains stored at St James’s Palace in London. Many items however are
regularly shown at exhibitions in Britain and around the world, a practice that was started by King George VI in the 1940s.
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Notable Royal Music
Monarchs and princes have employed musicians for
personal entertainment or to exalt the monarchy since the Middle Ages. Famous composers employed directly by the royal court since the time of Henry VIII have included Thomas Tallis, Orlando Gibbons, Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, Thomas Arne, Arthur Sullivan and Edward Elgar. Following below is a list of famous musical pieces that were either composed for, of popularised by, the British monarchy.
The Prince of Denmark’s March
Jeremiah Clarke
c.1700
This popular composition for trumpets was originally written by the organist of St Paul’s Cathedral in honour of Prince George of Denmark, Queen Anne’s husband, two years before she became Queen and he became Royal
Consort. It was famously played at the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer in 1981, and remains a
popular musical choice for weddings in the UK today.
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The Water Music Suites
George F. Handel
1717
Handel, the favourite composer of the early Hanoverian monarchs, created some of the most memorable music
associated with the British monarchy (see other pieces below). The Water Music Suites were composed expressly for King George I after he requested a concert to be played during a regatta party he was to take part in London on 17 July 1717. On that day, the composition was played by musicians on barges accompanying the
King, and George I was so pleased with the music that he asked for the concert to be repeated three times. The Suites have since become one of Handel’s most famous pieces of music.
Zadok the Priest
George F. Handel
1727
Handel’s greatest musical contribution to the British monarchy was Zadok the Priest, one of the four Coronation Anthems he composed for the coronation of George II in 1727. With its compelling crescendo, its explosion of choir and trumpets in the middle, and
glorious declarations of ‘God Save the King’ at the end, the anthem has become closely identified with the
monarchy itself. It has been played during the anointing of the monarch at every coronation since 1727, and has 653
become one of the most popular pieces of classical music in Britain today.
Rule, Britannia!
Music by Thomas Arne, lyrics by James Thomson
1740
This most patriotic of British songs started life as part of a masque written by Thomas Arne for Frederick Prince of Wales, son and heir of George II. The masque, called Alfred, centred on the life of King Alfred the Great and was first performed at Cliveden, the Prince’s country home, on 1 August 1740. In its original form Rule, Britannia was meant to be a song of protest from the Prince’s party against the policies of his father, King George II, who was accused of not doing enough to
expand Britain’s sea power. It was however picked up by the London theatres a few years later to great popular acclaim, and eventually became a patriotic hit song by the 19th century, when Britain was actually ruling the seas.
Music for the Royal Fireworks
George F. Handel
1749
Towards the end of his life Handel produced yet another memorable piece of music for the monarchy. The Music for the Royal Fireworks suite was commissioned by 654
George II to accompany a grand fireworks display on 27
April 1749, held to celebrate the end of the War of the Austrian Succession in which Britain had been victorious.
By this time Handel’s fame was such that 12,000 people attended the rehearsal alone the week before. The work remains popular with audiences today and is often played together with the Water Music Suites during concerts.
Wedding March
Felix Mendelssohn
1842
Written as incidental music for his version of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1842, Mendelssohn’s Wedding March became popular after it was used at the wedding ceremony of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Victoria the Princess Royal, in London in 1858. Mendelssohn was Victoria and Albert’s favourite composer and the march was played three times
throughout the day: it was performed by the band of the Grenadier Guards in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace before the wedding party left for the chapel; it was played at the end of the wedding ceremony in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace; and was played back at
Buckingham Palace in the afternoon during the official wedding dejeuner for the guests. It has been played at wedding ceremonies all over the world ever since,
becoming Mendelssohn’s most popular piece of music.
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Land of Hope and Glory
Music by Edward Elgar, lyrics by AC Benson
1901-1902
‘I’ve got a tune that will knock ‘em - knock ‘em flat!’
Edgar wrote to a friend after he first wrote the music to Land of Hope and Glory as part of his Pomp and Circumstance Marches in 1901, the year Edward VII became king. He was right: at the March’s London premiere in October 1901 people rose as the tune ended and asked for a double encore. A year later the song was included in Elgar’s Coronation Ode composed for Edward VII’s coronation, and AC Benson was commissioned to write appropriately grand words to accompany the
music, legend says at the suggestion of Edward VII
himself. Since then, Land of Hope and Glory has been played at the end of each coronation ceremony and has become an expression of British patriotism, as shown yearly during its performance at the Last Night of the Proms. The original wordless tune has also developed a parallel life in the United States and Canada where it is traditionally played during graduation ceremonies in colleges and high schools.
I Was Glad
Hubert Parry
1902
Parry—who also wrote the music to the patriotic English hymn Jerusalem—composed I Was Glad for the 656
coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. The anthem takes its name from the first words of Psalm 122, traditionally sung at British coronations since 965, and Parry’s version has been played at every coronation since 1902 while the monarch processes up Westminster Abbey at the
beginning of the ceremony. It was also played at the royal weddings of Prince Charles in 1981 and Prince William in 2011, and remains a frequently played piece of church music throughout Britain and the Commonwealth today.
Crown Imperial
William Walton
1937
The BBC commissioned this triumphant march from
&
nbsp; famed composer William Walton in 1936. It was meant to be performed at Edward VIII’s coronation in 1937 but after his abdication it ended up being performed instead at the crowning of his successor, George VI. At the time, Walton was criticized for composing a march that was unrepresentative of his contemporary work and that
sounded more like one of Elgar’s Pomp and
Circumstances marches, however Crown Imperial has since become one of Walton’s most famous pieces. It was played at Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, and at the royal weddings of Prince Charles and Prince William.
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Candle in the Wind 1997
Music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin
1973, 1997
The original Candle in the Wind, released in 1973, was originally written as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. In 1997
Elton John and Bernie Taupin reworked the song with new lyrics to pay tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales after her sudden death in a Paris car crash. Elton John
performed the song in Westminster Abbey during Diana’s funeral and a single was publicly released a week later, reaching the No.1 spot on most charts across the world.
By the end of 1997 Candle in the Wind 1997 had become the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK—a title it still retains—and later went on to become one of the biggest-selling singles in the world of all time, with a total of over 33 million copies sold to date.