All British Queens

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Category: 1800s

  • From A King To A Queen: The State Diadem Crown

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    State Diadem Crown

    You may have seen this beautiful, and exquisite crown before worn by Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II, or photos and time reels of Queen Victoria. This crown was created with passion, beauty, and the desire to have a glamorous lifestyle. With looks of this fabulous crown, it also signifies its duty and service to the state provinces of England, Ireland and Scotland. However, the question remains: How did it go from a King’s head to a Queen? We’ll get into the breakdown of this spectacle of a crown and its creation, but first, we have to take a look into the eyes of its creator.

    “The First Gentleman Of England”

    King George IV (the oldest Uncle of Queen Victoria), became Prince Regnant in 1811 due to his father, King George III being in the state of insanity, then officially began his reign from 1820 after his father died, until 1830. During this time as King, George IV fancied the lifestyle of lavish things: fine jewelry, furniture, paintings, and of course, the State Diadem Crown. With the palace already in trouble with debt from the past interior designs and exterior expenses from the regnant at the time, King George IV had made way to wear this crown on his Coronation day.

    In 1820 the King, wanted the crown a representation England, Ireland, and Scotland in preparation of his coronation in 1821. With that being said are the 3 flowers representing each country; Roses (England), Thistles (Scotland), and Shamrocks (Ireland). Along with pearls surrounding the crown, Christian cross patte’e in between the 3 flowers, 1,333 diamonds, along with a gold and silver frame. This request of such a crown was given to the Royal jewellers Rundell & Bridge, and Rundell; of the cost of 8,216 Euros, which included 800 Euros for the diamonds (keep in mind the debt it was costing the Monarchy). Since they were jewellers respectively to the crown, and the diamonds were leased, Rundell & Bridge, and Rundell decided to sell the diamonds to the royal family, keeping the diamonds on the State Diadem Crown.

    From A King, To A Queen

    Knowing how the King was with his flashy and proud personality, how exactly did this crown go from a King’s head to a Queen?

    Once the King died in 1830, the crown was passed over to his sister-in-law, Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV (whom is not flashy at all); taking in the theory that the King has died, with his daughter Princess Charlotte who died in 1817, his wife, Queen Caroline of Brunswick, has since passed in 1821, and his father George III, who died in a year earlier in 1820. Queen Adelaide wore this crown until the death of her husband in 1837, making the new heir, Queen Victoria the next Queen of the Monarchy to wear the Crown.

    Victoria loved this crown and wore it to many events like christenings for her children, stamps and portraits. She loved it so much that she declared the crown as an Heirloom so it will pass down from Queen to Queen.

    Queen Alexandria Of Denmark

    Modern Tradition

    Four Queens later after Queen Adelaide: Victoria, Alexandra of Denmark, Queen Mary of Teck, and today, the current Queen Elizabeth II. She has worn this crown for her coronation in 1953, in which where the crown was first worn by King George IV, keeping the traditional style of the coronation ceremony, along with the State Opening of Parliment. This crown is also set in the Queens Gallery at Buckingham Palace when not in use for fans all over the world to view and imagine that gorgeous crown on their own heads.

    Since 1952, Queen Elizabeth II has worn the State Diadem Crown all but 2 times throughout her reign The only times she has not worn the crown was in 1959 when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew, and 1963 when she was also pregnant with Prince Edward. She is the only Queen and sovereign who has worn this crown the longest in British Royal History.

    Even though King George IV was smitten, he took to lengths to remove the Imperial State Crown with the State Diadem Crown. Parliament wasted no time in saying no since it was a part of the history of the monarchy (Crown and Parliament Recognition Act of 1689), also meant to be worn at the closing of coronations, and State Openings of Parliament. 

    I find the State Diadem Crown to be a beauty in its own right with meaning and a proud representation of England, Ireland, and Scotland. King George IV may have been a little flamboyant, but he remembered how much this crown meant to not only himself, but to the Monarchy.

  • If I Could Go Back To 200 Years Ago Today……

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    Although this is Queen’s blog page I was compelled and inspired to write to you guys about my thoughts and a little bit of fun facts on what it would be like to live in time, date, and year of March 16th 1821. For some odd reason lately, I repeatedly kept seeing the number 316. From what I understand of it, it means to love yourself as well as others, and to become more creative and evolve with your craft (hence the writing today).

    Hm, lets see.. 1821. That’s 16 years before Victoria became Queen of England (16? 3 1 6?) . Slavery was still legal in the United States (but illegal in Mexico), and the industrial era with factories, scientists, and inventors was growing more by the day.

    With that being said, what exactly would I see or what could I see during this time? I don’t really know, but using my imagination I would say I’d see cabins as homes, and inside the kitchen has wooden counter tops, a square sink with a bucket of water inside, dishes to my right, candles every where, and an icebox to keep the food cool. I would see in the living area placed with a wooden coffee table, a white blanket on the left side of the dark blue couch, and once I sit down I’m facing the fire place with fresh wood inside. Outside would be an Outhouse made from the ground up (please don’t imagine the smell!). Over the horizon you see a black streak across the sky from the town 2 miles away in a random but prominent named town like “City Of Jamestenson”. As I make my journey and arrive to Jamestenson (let’s say I’m on a horse and carriage), my first stop is to go to the retail store and see the dresses! I would come across something like this:

    High waistline, broad shouldered, silk dress with its own authentic design. This store is filled with different designs, styles, and colors. Store owner is welcoming and sells me the dress for $10.00 ($224.00 today… wow). I leave the store and across the street I see a beautiful park with kids playing and feeding the birds. To my right up ahead I see the newest factory that struck their 12:00PM bell for lunch. I have no idea what they produce, but I hope it’s beneficial for the future! Right before I leave the city, I’m over towered by an amazing university with the engravement of “University Of Jamestenson 1760” viewed with windows gallore and a statue of President James Monroe (ha! I just made the city name up!). As I move further along from the dirt roads to the bay, I see travellers stepping on to the ramp to get on the ships for their journey across the ocean to go days to their new home in a new country. Men with their high-top hats and blue/black suit, checking the time on their gold pocket watch with white gloves, takes a deep breath, and proceeds to wait.

    Since its nice and cool, yet sunny and warm, a farm up ahead. The men share cropping, with brown and cream colored straw hats, freshly shaved black beard, white vest, black suspenders, and gray pants, and brown boots, pushing faster on a nice day. Women picking off the cotton with blue garden gloves, while dressed in white or blue, the bell of the dresses are flared enough to catch the wind, and their hats are tied to their chin while singing harmoniously. Further travelling, I reach a much smaller town named “Ides” (Like The Ides of March). Down the main road, a woman is holding a basketful of dried clothes from the clothes line heading inside their yellow house, horses pulling crates of moonshine to the nearest warehouse, and mail carriers riding as fast as they can to Jamestenson, the carriage had to move over since there were no stop signs until 1915.

    Ending my day with this marvelous journey back in time to 1821 (with help of an imagination), I wrote in my journal of the past. What I saw, how everyone spoke, the styles of suits and dresses, the entertainment of theater and dance, travel, natural grown food, products, and resources, and different types of labor. I really believe this is one of my favorite times of history to look back on because of the way things naturally were. If I could create my own world, it would be here. 1821.

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