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Post by David Smith on Apr 27, 2008 21:27:59 GMT
The web site at www.foresnicgenealogy.info/contest_48_results.html has a photo of Queen Victoria's coffin resting in the Albert Memorial Chapel sometine after her funeral on Feb. 2, 1901 and her burial at Frogmore on Feb. 4, 1901. The site says the crown resting on her coffin is St. Edward's Crown but I'm pretty sure the crown is the Imperial State Crown based both on this photo and other photos of her funeral. Am I correct? |
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Post by donald1941 on Apr 27, 2008 21:48:06 GMT
You are correct.
It is the Imperial State Crown, not St. Edwards.
While at Osborne her coffin had the small diamond crown made especially for her resting on it. This was replaced by the diamond Imperial State Crown for the rest of the funeral ceremonies.
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Post by davidsmith on Apr 29, 2008 23:06:21 GMT
Dear donald1941: Thanks for your reply! I agree with you that the small diamond crown was on the coffin as it lay in state at Osborne but was replaced by the Imperial State Crown, the Scepter with the Cross and the two orbs (David Williamson writes the second orb was to represent India. But only one orb has been used at subsequent royal funerals) before the coffin left Osborne on its way to London. Would you know of a written reference for the Imperial State Crown being used? The only written reference I've found is in Jerrold Packard's book Farewell in Spendor. The web site I referenced is related to forensic dating of photographs and conducts quizes regarding identification of photos.
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Post by donald1941 on Apr 30, 2008 5:48:30 GMT
I also consulted Packard's Farewell in Splendor which says it was the Imperial State Crown, two orbs and sceptre.
In his book, Last Days of Glory, The Death of Queen Victoria
Tony Rennell says only that the 'great State Crown' along with two orbs and sceptre were placed atop the coffin. I presume this to mean the Imperial State Crown.
It is evident from looking at the photos that it was The Imperial State Crown, not St. Edward's Crown.
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Post by paulchen on Apr 30, 2008 11:50:26 GMT
As a young girl it was felt that St Edward's Crown would be too heavy to use and so HM Queen Victoria was crowned with an updated Imperial State Crown instead.
I presume that this is why the Imperial State Crown sat on Queen Victoria's coffin because it was the crown she was actually crowned with.
The same thing happened with her son's Coronation. HM King Edward VII was crowned with the Imperial State Crown because he had just recovered from a ground-breaking appendix operation for which the Coronation had been postponed.
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Post by davidsmith on May 1, 2008 3:47:16 GMT
I looked at some photos of Edward VII's funeral from illustrated news magazines of the day and am pretty sure St. Edward's Crown was used on top of his coffin for his funeral. I say this based on one photo showing the arches of the crown on top of the coffin. These arches go up and then back down which is not the case on the Imperial State Crown but is on St. Edward's Crown. Another photo from Edward VII's funeral shows the cross at the top of the crown has pearl's hanging down from the arms of the cross. This is the case on St. Edward's Crown but not on the Imperial State Crown. Thus it seems St. Edward's Crown was used for Edward VII's funeral. However, there is no doubt that the Imperial State Crown was used for the funerals of George V and George VI. Interestingly neither Queen Alexandra's nor Queen Mary's coffin had their coronation crowns on top of them but the Queen Mother's did at her funeral in 2002.
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