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The coronation of Charles III and his wife Camilla as king and queen of the United Kingdom and

other Commonwealth realms is to take place today. Saturday, May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey.

This is the first coronation in 70 years, and during the ceremony,

King Charles will sit upon the coronation chair commissioned by King Edward I in the early 1300s

to house the Stone of Destiny, which you can hear more about in the history daily episode 430 from

April 11th. And then once seated, Charles will be presented two sectors and an orb. The sovereign

scepter with dove represents Charles's spiritual role. And the other, the sovereign scepter with

cross represents his temporal power and good governance. Originally commissioned for the 1661

coronation of the prior King Charles II, the sovereign's orb represents the monarch's religious

and moral authority. It's a golden globe festoon with rose cut diamonds, a large amethyst and

sapphire and clusters of emerald rubies, sapphires and pearls. And then of course, there are the

crowns. Charles will wear St. Edward's crown and the imperial state crown, while Camilla will wear

Queen Mary's crown, each a magnificent piece of craftsmanship that contains thousands of jewels.

Together, these items and many more comprise the crown jewels, a priceless collection of very

sparkly bobbles with deep and sometimes troubling history. To tell you more about them,

we have an episode from the excellent Noiser podcast short history of. In it, you'll hear why one

thief put the crown jewels down his trousers. You'll learn which King managed to lose his own

crown and why one diamond is so controversial that it will not be included in today's coronation

of King Charles III. I hope you enjoyed this short history of the crown jewels. While you're

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