• Palace announced Camilla will wear Queen Mary’s Crown.
• The crown was commissioned by Queen Mary for her coronation.
• King Charles will wear the St Edward’s Crown.

Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday that British Queen Consort Camilla would wear Queen Mary’s Crown at her and King Charles III’s coronation in early May.

The crown dates back more than a century and was commissioned by Queen Mary for her coronation alongside King George V in 1911. It will be altered for the historic occasion on May 6.

According to the palace, this is the first time in recent history that an existing crown would be utilised for the coronation of a consort rather than a new commission being manufactured.

The move was taken “in the interests of sustainability and efficiency,” according to the statement.

In honour to the late Queen Elizabeth II, the crown will be reset with six Cullinan diamonds cut from the biggest diamond ever mined when it was discovered in South Africa in 1905.

For many years, the diamonds were part of her personal jewellery collection, and she frequently wore them as brooches.

Others of the diamonds were placed into Queen Mary’s Crown for her coronation in 1911, and some were set into King George VI’s Crown for his coronation in 1937, when it was worn as a regal circlet.

The royal jewellers has withdrawn it from its normal exhibition at the Tower of London for the alteration, which will also involve some minor adjustments and additions.

Four of its eight removable arches will be removed to produce a new impression that is distinct from the one created in 1911.

For the coronation ceremonies in Westminster Abbey, King Charles will wear the St Edward’s Crown. It has already been modified and returned to the Tower of London for public viewing.

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