Queen Victoria at her Golden Jubilee, 1887. Note the tiny crown atop her mourning veil.
In my previous post, “Queen Alexandra’s Royal Bosom,” I mention that Queen Victoria refused to wear a crown to the Thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey that was part of her Golden Jubilee celebration in June, 1887. She did, however, consent to wear a crown for her official Jubilee photograph (shown here), which we may assume she wore to the banquet celebrating her 50 years on the British throne. Fifty European Kings and princes and the American author Samuel Clemens (AKA Mark Twain) attended.
After her husband Prince Albert’s death in 1861, the Queen had largely disappeared from public view. She had vowed to publicly mourn her husband until her death and wear nothing but black widow’s weeds and her white lace mourning veil. In 1870, under government pressure, Victoria began to appear in public again. But she refused to wear her Imperial State Crown again, for several reasons. Chiefly, it was too big and heavy and was impossible to wear with her mourning veil.
The Imperial State Crown of Great Britain worn by Queen Victoria at her coronation. It includes a base of four crosses pattée alternating with four fleurs-de-lis, above which are four half-arches surmounted by a cross. Inside is a velvet cap with an ermine border. The Imperial State Crown includes several precious gems, including: 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and 5 rubies.
Queen Victoria shown wearing the Imperial State Crown at her Coronation, 1837
Consequently, a new crown, a small one, was designed for the Queen. It sat atop her mourning veil. The Queen was satisfied and so was the government. Wearing the tiny crown atop her veil allowed her to look like both a widow and a queen.
“The crown followed standard design for British crowns. It was made up of four half-arches, which met at a monde, on which sat a cross. Each half-arch ran from the monde down to a cross pattee along the band at the bottom. Between each cross pattee was a fleur-de-lis. However, because of its small size (9 centimeters across and 10 centimeters high) Victoria’s small diamond crown possesses no internal cloth cap. The crown was manufactured by R & S Garrard & Company.”
Queen Victoria's Small Diamond Crown created in 1870 measures 3.7 inches (9.9 cm) high and 3.4 inches (9 cm) in diameter. It was worn atop a widow's cap. The silver crown was made in 1870, using some 1,300 diamonds from a large necklace and other jewelry in the Queen's personal collection. Queen Victoria's Small Diamond Crown remains on show in the Jewel House in the Tower of London.
Lisa's History Room 
Yay for Mark Twain! I love seeing how two worlds sometimes collide. I’m sure he had something sarcastic to say about the crown, knowing him!
LikeLike
He was in awe of the size of the crowd gathered at the procession of the Queen – “stretched to the limit.”
LikeLike
Very interesting piece!
LikeLike
Hi Lisa, thanks for such informative articles and blogs. I’ve learnt so much and indeed it is also very enjoyable to read them, especially with so many interesting photos attached.
Thanks again!
Ling from Malaysia
LikeLike
Lisa-
Do you have sources indicating Mark Twain was actually at the Golden Jubilee?
I’ve been chasing down the source of a mis-applied Twain quote (“The procession through London, according to Mark Twain, ‘stretched to the limit of sight in both directions'”) that I find everywhere, from the RoyalFamily’s website (http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/TheQueenandspecialanniversaries/HistoryofJubilees/QueenVictoria.aspx) [possibly the source], through most newspapers, Wikipedia, etc.
The quote from Twain is from Twain’s “Queen Victoria’s Jubilee”, which describes the 1897 Diamond Jubilee. The line can be found in The Complete Essays Of Mark Twain by Charles Neider, page 197.
Twain’s misc letters from 1887 put him in Elmira that summer, as far as I can determine (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3196/3196-h/3196-h.htm#2H_4_0002).
Do you have an attributed source that shows otherwise? It’s been driving me nuts trying to track this down!
LikeLike
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2010/03/mark-twain-on-queen-victoria.html
Mark Twain reported on the Queen’s Golden Jubilee from London.
LikeLike
The LA times you reference actually got it right.1897 was Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, ten years after the Golden Jubilee. Even the royal family’s website gets it confused (and I think everyone else just copied them).
I’ve managed to get two of the bogus Wikipedia references corrected, but it’s a “zombie fact” that’s very persistent.
It only matters to me because I love Twain and I’m working on an alt-history novel. If he’d been there in 1887 I’d probably have to kill him.
LikeLike
Queen Victoria had another so-called “small diamond crown” that looked alot like the George IV State Diadem. She is wearing it in her official Diamond Jubilee photograph. No one ever talks about it!
LikeLike
This was the same crown with the arches removed. She sometimes wore it this way.
LikeLike
Was this crown yellow gold or platinum? I have seen pictures of the crown in both types. Which is correct?
LikeLike