This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/28/crown-jewels-new-exhibition

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Crown jewels go on show for major new exhibition Crown jewels go on show for major new exhibition
(about 4 hours later)
A major exhibition of the crown jewels with new music, restored film footage of the Queen's coronation in 1953, and new lighting producing an almost blinding glitter from some of the world's most famous bling, had to be organised during overnight sessions at the Tower of London because the authorities dared not close their most popular attraction. The new display formally opens to visitors on Thursday but can in fact be viewed a little later than usual on Wednesday. A £2.5m exhibition of the crown jewels – with restored film footage of the Queen's coronation in 1953, music played during the ceremony and new lighting producing an almost blinding glitter from some of the world's most famous bling – had to be organised during overnight sessions at the Tower of London because the authorities dared not close their most popular attraction.
Like the artist Lucian Freud, who, when he painted the Queen asked her to wear "the crown on the postage stamps", 2.5 million visitors from all over the world arrive every year determined to see the enormous diamonds among 23,578 gems in the collection. The imperial state crown alone holds 2,969 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires and 11 emeralds. Princess Anne will formally open the new display, but in fact the tourists have already been in, and will be back in the moment she leaves the Tower.
Some of the diamonds are bigger than walnuts, including the Cullinan I – found in 1905 and once the largest uncut diamond ever discovered – and the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor, which Indian politicians regularly optimistically call to have returned to their country. Like the artist Lucian Freud, who when he painted the Queen asked her to wear "the crown on the postage stamps", 2.5 million visitors from all over the world arrive every year determined to see the enormous diamonds among 23,578 gems in the collection. The new display includes new post holes sunk into the parade ground outside for the pens to control the crowds on the busiest days when they manage to funnel 14,000 through the exhibition.
The regalia – minus the jewels that King John lost when his baggage train was swamped by the incoming tide of the Wash in 1216 – dates back to early medieval times, but was broken up at the Tower in the Commonwealth after the civil war, and had to be reinvented for the coronation of Charles II in 1661. The imperial state crown alone holds 2,969 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires and 11 emeralds. Some of the diamonds are bigger than walnuts, including the Cullinan I – found in 1905 and once the largest uncut diamond ever discovered – and the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor, which Indian politicians regularly optimistically call to have returned to their country.
Ten years later the magnificently named Colonel Thomas Blood made an appointment to see them and with accomplices bashed the elderly Jewel House keeper over the head, tied him up and stabbed him. They were in the process of crushing or sawing up pieces, and stuffing them down their trousers, when they were captured. To the lasting delight of conspiracy theorists, Charles II gave Blood a pardon and a pension. "The question we are most often asked is 'are they real?' – and the answer is yes," said Steve Sullivan, one of the permanent exhibition team. They were not amused by the recent episode of the television series Sherlock in which the villainous Moriarty overrode the security system and emptied the cases. Sullivan is often the man who locks up by closing the six-inch-thick, two-tonne steel doors. "We just thought it was rubbish. Our last attempted robbery was in 1671," he said.
The display cases have to be impregnable to thieves but easily accessible to those authorised to handle them. The regalia is still a working collection: on state opening of parliament days and other grand occasions, visitors find small cards stating "in use" instead of the crown from the postage stamps. The regalia – minus the jewels King John lost when his baggage train was swamped by the incoming tide of the Wash in 1216 – dates back to early medieval times, but was broken up at the Tower in the Commonwealth after the civil war, and had to be reinvented for the coronation of Charles II in 1661. The oldest surviving piece is a 12th-century spoon, still used at every coronation, which a loyalist bought for 12 shillings to preserve it and returned to Charles II.
The costliest pieces were made for the insanely extravagant coronation in 1821 of George IV, who had spent 10 years as prince regent waiting for his mad father to die, and was determined to have his turn in the highest style. The pieces he commissioned included a silver gilt punch bowl a metre in diameter, easily big enough to bathe in. He judged the crown of his predecessors insufficiently grand and so commissioned a new one holding 12,000 diamonds, hired at enormous expense to get the biggest possible stones. The whole show cost more than £230,000, about £10m today, roughly 25 times the price of his father's coronation. When his brother succeeded him as William IV, he cut every possible expense so that wits called the ceremony "the half-crown-nation".
Ten years later the magnificently named Colonel Thomas Blood made an appointment to see them and with accomplices bashed the elderly Jewel House keeper over the head, tied him up and stabbed him. They were in the process of crushing or sawing up pieces and stuffing them down their trousers when they were captured. To the lasting delight of conspiracy theorists, Charles II gave Blood a pardon and a pension.
Today's display cases have to be impregnable to thieves but easily accessible to those authorised to handle them. The regalia is still a working collection: on state opening of parliament days and other grand occasions, visitors find small cards stating "in use" instead of the crown from the postage stamps. This week a collection of enormous silver gilt dishes is on display: next week the space will be empty as they travel to York where they will hold the purses of Maundy Money which the Queen will distribute at the Minster.