Why Kohinoor could now prove to be a lucky diamond

Of all the issues preoccupying the clever minds of Buckingham Palace officials and royal courtiers in London right now, the large and ugly diamond in the Queen Consort’s crown is surely not paramount. But then, if ever a good excuse is needed to divert attention from knottier issues — such as public acceptance of the royal spouse in question — the Kohinoor and its ‘importance’ for India is always handy, given its convoluted history and recall value, pun intended.

As if on cue, a BJP spokesman has said wearing the Kohinoor would resurrect “painful memories of India’s colonial past” which has apparent led to renewed concerns in London about whether the crown last worn by King Charles’ grandmother Queen Elizabeth (the previous Queen Consort) would adorn his “darling wife” Camilla at her coronation next May. Is India’s possible ire really a major apprehension or a diversion from more serious issues nearer home?

The Kohinoor was worn as a brooch by Queen Victoria after it was ‘presented’ to her in 1850, wrested from the then 11-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh (who had worn it in an armband) by the Treaty of Lahore in 1849 after the third Anglo-Sikh War. It had earlier been in the Mughal Peacock Throne plundered by Nadir Shah and changed hands many times before coming into Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s possession. Its original owner is unclear but it was mined in Golconda.

Incidentally, from the 4th century BC India was the only source of diamonds in the world till the 16th century, and the brilliant white gem gained pre-eminence among European royals only from the 18th century onwards. Queen Victoria’s daughter-in-law Alexandra, the first British Queen Consort in over 60 years had it set into a new crown for herself. Then her two successor queen consorts, Mary and Elizabeth also had new crowns made, both incorporating the Kohinoor.

When Queen Elizabeth, consort of King George VI, had the Kohinoor reset in her crown in 1937, India was still under the British Raj so any protests were naturally ignored; it’s very different now. But in 2016 after contradictory statements made during a public interest litigation hearing in the Supreme Court, the Culture Ministry had stated that India “further reiterates its resolve to make all possible efforts to bring back the Kohinoor diamond in an amicable manner”.

The apex court had been informed that under the Antiquities & Art Treasures Act, 1972, only such antiquities can be pursued for repatriation that had been illegally exported from India. The Kohinoor diamond was cited as neither “forcibly taken nor stolen” but given as a “gift” to the East India Company by the last Maharaja of Punjab. At that time the then Shiromani Akali Dal-ruled state of Punjab had protested and announced its intention to become a party to the case.

Even if India reiterates its claim on the Kohinoor before the coronation, there are more pressing matters for the new occupants of Buckingham Palace — such as the new season of the TV serial The Crown which will debut in November and is expected to cover the darkest and most bitter phase in the lives of the not-so-merry wives of the House of Windsor, including the breakup of the marriage of the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) and the idolised Princess Diana.

And the depiction of the undeniable role of the current Queen Consort in that painful phase will certainly impact the careful re-branding and re-positioning of Camilla since 2005 as a down-to-earth, warm figure. While she may be hailed now as a devoted and tireless “working royal” (a quaint term only the British could conjure up) her role in Charles’ life throughout his marriage to Diana and after — and its tragic consequences — could reignite the British public’s dislike of Camilla.

Then there is the much awaited memoir of Prince Harry, that is expected to shine a harsh light not only on his father — for reasons real and imagined, probably — but also on his less-than-beloved stepmother. Harry’s devotion to his late mother was there for all to see when he as a 12-year-old walked alongside his father, brother, grandfather and maternal uncle behind her coffin. He saw then how much Diana meant to ordinary Britons — and what ‘rottweiler’ Camilla meant too.

The last thing the rebranded Camilla needs is an irate stepson firing trans-Atlantic salvos and potentially revealing unknown flashpoints in their famously fraught relationship. Her being accepted by her mother in law the late Queen Elizabeth II as the future queen consort earlier this year was a hard-won rebranding victory for her team of spin doctors so she would probably even prefer the ‘risk’ of wearing a disputed Kohinoor-studded crown to facing an H(arry)-bomb.

One thing is for sure, though: this queen consort will not have the option of getting her own crown made for her coronation, unlike the last three. Her husband has indicated that the 6 May 2023 ceremony will not be an extravaganza — leading to it being dubbed a ‘cut-price coronation’. The baubles to be worn by the monarch are already decided, so maybe his spouse will be allotted one of the other assorted crowns in the family stash rather than the one with the Kohinoor.

Charles III also has much to worry about the H-bomb as he has been extensively rebranded too, initially to reduce public resistance to his marrying the “other woman” in 2005, and then to ease him into his immanent role as King and as head of an increasingly non-deferential Commonwealth. Audiences in the UK and around the world have already seen glimpses of his irascibility and tantrums thanks to candid TV cameras, but a fiery filial expose now would be devastating.

So the King would also not be averse to hyping up the Kohinoor angle only to easily resolve it by mothballing the crown containing it, or lancing the proverbial boil by returning it to India, along with all the bad luck associated with it. It’s not as if he or his family paid for it, so sending it back could win him some cheap brownie points. Even his first Prime Minister Liz Truss may second the move, given that she needs extra ballast for the stalled FTA deal with India.

The Queen Consort could do the clever thing by “deciding against” wearing the Kohinoor-studded crown in order to maintain goodwill amid the expected bombshells from The Crown and Prince Harry’s book. But actually returning it to India would be tricky as that could set a precedent for a run not only on other murkily acquired gems in the Crown Jewels but also looted collections in the British Museum and other institutions. Bad luck dogs the Kohinoor after all!

The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed are personal.

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Reshmi Dasgupta