Coronet of Charles, Prince of Wales

When the former King Edward VIII went into exile as the Duke of Windsor in 1936 following his abdication, he took with him the Coronet of George, Prince of Wales – a highly controversial act.{{cite book|author=Doug Lennox|title=Now You Know: Royalty|url=https://archive.org/details/nowyouknowroyalt0000lenn|url-access=registration|year=2009|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=978-1-77070-406-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/nowyouknowroyalt0000lenn/page/85 85]}} This coronet had been specially created for King George V, when Prince of Wales, and he wore it at his father's coronation in 1902. George's son, Edward, when Prince of Wales, wore it at the coronation of his father in 1911. In 1969, it was judged impractical to charge the ex-king with effectively stealing the coronet, which would be returned to the United Kingdom after his death in 1972.

Since the 1902 coronet was unavailable, and the Coronet of Frederick, Prince of Wales, was judged unusable due to its age, a new coronet had to be made for the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales. He had been created Prince of Wales in 1958 but the formal investiture ceremony was held a few months before his 21st birthday.{{cite web|url=http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/personalprofiles/theprinceofwales/biography/|archiveurl=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100824181313/http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/personalprofiles/theprinceofwales/biography/|archivedate=24 August 2010|title=Biography|website=The Prince of Wales}} Today, the coronets of Frederick and George are part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom on display at the Tower of London.{{cite book|author=Anna Keay|author-link=Anna Keay|title=The Crown Jewels: The Official Illustrated History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MwpjtwAACAAJ|year=2011|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-51575-4|page=190}}

File:Prince of Wales Coronet monde.jpg

The coronet follows the form laid down by King Charles II in 1677 by having just one arch rather than the traditional two arches or four half-arches of British monarchs' crowns to show that the Prince of Wales is inferior to the monarch but outranks the other royal princes and dukes.{{cite book|author=Sir Bernard Burke|title=The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMmX7QdO-OkC&pg=PR59|year=2009|publisher=Heritage Books|isbn=978-0-7884-3719-9|page=59}} Though based on this traditional design, the coronet has a futurist look that was popular in the 1960s, and it was created by the eccentric designer Louis Osman.

In the centre of the arch is a monde (which is actually a gold-plated ping-pong ball){{cite book|author1=Irene Morra|author2=Rob Gossedge|title=The New Elizabethan Age: Culture, Society and National Identity after World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=enJ1DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT67|year=2016|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-0-85772-867-8|page=67}} engraved with the Prince of Wales's insignia by Malcolm Appleby, surmounted by a plain cross. Orbiting the monde are thirteen square diamonds set in platinum arranged as the constellation of Scorpio – the Prince of Wales's star sign. Within the 24-carat textured gold base is a purple velvet cap lined with ermine. Around the base are four crosses and four abstract fleurs-de-lis in 22-carat gold (mined in the Mawddach Valley in Merionethshire, it was the last Welsh gold held in stock by Johnson Matthey) sparsely decorated with diamonds and emeralds. The diamonds on the base represent the seven deadly sins and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.{{cite book|author=Design Museum|title=Fifty Hats that Changed the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y2fN5Q3dPsAC&pg=PT64|year=2011|publisher=Octopus|isbn=978-1-84091-588-4|page=64}} In total, the coronet has 75 diamonds and 12 emeralds – white and green being the national colours of Wales – and weighs {{convert|1.36|kg|lb|0}}.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19690702&id=P8pRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=D20DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7254,202829&hl=en|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=2 July 1969|agency=Associated Press|title=Charles' coronet valued at $8,400|page=5}} It measures {{convert|26.5|cm|in}} tall and {{convert|28.8|cm|in}} in diameter at the widest point.{{Royal Collection|69058|The Prince of Wales's Coronet (1969)}}

When Osman unveiled the coronet in London, he described it as "something that is modern".

The frame was made by electroplating gold onto the inside of an epoxy resin cast.{{cite book|author=Lelande Quick|title=Lapidary Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OB3lAAAAMAAJ|year=1969|pages=1366–1369|volume=23}}{{cite journal|title=Metallurgia: The British Journal of Metals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3AwSAQAAMAAJ|year=1969|publisher=Kennedy Press|page=2|volume=79–80|issue=471–482}}{{cite book|title=Engineering Digest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z2ItAQAAIAAJ|volume=30|year=1984|publisher=Canadian Engineering Publications|page=24}}{{cite book|author=Rod Edwards|title=The Technique of Jewelry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sohTAAAAMAAJ|year=1977|publisher=Scribner|isbn=978-0-684-15309-4|page=203}}{{cite journal|date=July 1969|page=263|title=H.R.H. The Prince of Wales coronet electroformed|journal=Metal Finishing}} B. J. S. Electroplating Co., a precious-metal electroformer's, was commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths to make a fibreglass-reinforced polyester mould of a wax model of the coronet that Louis Osman had made using a wooden template. From this mould a negative epoxy resin cast was produced. B. J. S. involved Engelhard Industries to assist in the electroforming of the cast. David Mason was Head of Research at Engelhard and was assigned the task of doing the electroforming at the company's headquarters in the Forest of Dean. Until then, electroforming an object of that size had never been attempted anywhere in the world, and it was the first crown to be made in this way.

The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths presented the coronet to Queen Elizabeth II for the investiture, which was held at Caernarfon Castle on 1 July 1969.

Coronets of Princes of Wales have been rarely used. The Coronet of Frederick, Prince of Wales was never actually worn by Frederick;{{cite book|author1=Kenneth J. Mears|author2=Simon Thurley|author3=Claire Murphy|author2-link=Simon Thurley|title=The Crown Jewels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r1GJnAEACAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Historic Royal Palaces|asin=B000HHY1ZQ}} and the Coronet of George, Prince of Wales was only worn rarely by George, later George V, and by Edward, later Edward VIII. Charles, later Charles III, did not wear his coronet except at his his investiture; the coronet was carried before him when he took his seat in the House of Lords in 1970.{{Cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1970/feb/11/hrh-the-prince-of-wales-introduced |date=11 February 1970 |title=H.R.H. The Prince of Wales Introduced |work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)}}{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.britishpathe.com/video/prince-charles-at-house-of-lords |title=Prince Charles At House Of Lords (1970) |publisher=British Pathé |access-date=2017-01-18}}

The coronet was loaned to the National Museum and Gallery of Wales in Cardiff by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974. It was placed into storage at St James's Palace, London in 2011.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22679981|title=Prince of Wales' regalia 'should be displayed in Wales'|date=28 May 2013|accessdate=1 July 2016|work=BBC News}} The coronet and rod were both put on permanent display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London in 2020.{{cite web|title=His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales's Investiture Coronet to go on display at the Tower of London for the first time|url=https://www.hrp.org.uk/media-and-press/press-releases-2020/his-royal-highness-the-prince-of-wales-s-investiture-coronet-to-go-on-display-at-the-tower-of-london-for-the-first-time|access-date=29 March 2020|website=Historic Royal Palaces}}

• {{Section link|Elizabeth II's jewels|1937 coronets}}

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• {{Royal Collection|69058|The Prince of Wales's Investiture Coronet (1969)}}

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Charles, Prince of Wales

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