Chapter I: Preface

Since the reign of Queen Elizabeth there has been no greater period in the history of the British race than is to be found in the reign of George V. At the end of a war greater than has been known in the history of the world, after four-and-a-half years of heroic effort and untold sacrifice, the Standard of England flies more proudly than it did in the days of the Great Armada. Future generations will look back on this reign as one of the great triumphant eras in the history of nations proud of their British blood, and who speak the English tongue.

Everything to do with this reign will be of as great an interest to unborn generations as is still at our day the inspiring echo of the Elizabethan era. To-day we should be intensely gratified if we could see the Crown and Sceptre of the Queen who reigned in those great days. They, as this record will show, have gone beyond recall, and no worthy presentment of them remains. It is in the hope that the same reproach may not be levied against this generation that the present book is written.

The Crown Jewels of England are historically and, indeed, intrinsically of a value impossible to compute. The Crown of England is older than any Crown in Europe, and is worn by a Sovereign with more ancient a lineage than any of the Royal families of the Western world. Set in the Crown and emblems of royalty are jewels which have their origin in the mists of antiquity, others which count their age only by centuries, whilst some saw the light of day within the lifetime of the present King. But great or small, ancient or new, the Crown Jewels are the hall marks of the British Empire and of British Sovereignty.

In close connection with the Throne and with the Crown Jewels are matters of interest such as the Royal Plate at the Tower, the Vestments worn by His Majesty at his Coronation, and the ancient chair in which he is crowned. It has, therefore, been deemed of interest to include some reference to these as cognate subjects in the present work.

The frontispiece is a reproduction of Sir Luke Fildes’ fine picture of His Majesty, which is at Windsor Castle. The full-page illustrations of the Royal Crowns, and other portions of the Regalia, are from enlarged photographs, and may be relied upon as exact representations.

The small illustrations in the text are made from drawings, and they will, it is hoped, make the subject matter clearer than it otherwise would be. This is deemed more especially necessary for a clear understanding when dealing with the growth of the form of the Royal Crown.

All books which deal with the details of the insignia of Royalty in England have been carefully examined; of these, those which have been found of most value, and of which free use has been made, are:--

The _Liber Regalis_, at Westminster.

Rymer’s _Fœdera_.

Sir Edward Walker’s _The Preparations for His Majestie’s
Coronation at Westminster, the 23rd of Aprill, 1661_. MS.

John Ogilvy. _The Entertainment of His Most Excellent Majestie
Charles II., etc._ London, 1662.

Francis Sandford. _The History of the Coronation of the Most
High Monarch James II._, etc. In the Savoy, 1687.

_The Ceremonial of the Coronation of His Most Sacred Majesty
King George the Fourth._ [By Sir George Nayler, Garter King
of Arms.] Westminster, 1823.

William Jones. _Crowns and Coronations._ London, 1883.

William Chaffers. _Gilda Aurifabrorum, a History of English
Goldsmiths_, etc. London, 1883.

J. Wickham Legg. _The Sacring of the English Kings_, etc.
London, 1894.

Cyril Davenport. _The English Regalia._ London, 1897.

E. A. Jones. _Old Royal Plate in the Tower of London._ London,
1908.

Garrard. _The Story of Garrards_, etc. London, 1911.

The sketches of details from the Great Seals have generally been taken from the Seals themselves, and have been checked by reference to the admirable book on the Great Seals of England by Alfred B. Wyon, completed by Allan Wyon, London, 1887.

The drawings from the coins are in many cases from the coins themselves, but in this work much assistance has been received from Rogers Ruding’s _Annals of the Coinage of Britain_, etc. London, 1819.

GEORGE YOUNGHUSBAND,
CYRIL DAVENPORT.

TOWER OF LONDON,
1919.

CONTENTS