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A half-arch is the piece of gold, silver or platinum, usually decorated with jewels, that links the circlet (circular base) of a hoop crown to the monde at the top of the crown.
Many crowns of continental European monarchs traditionally contain eight half-arches; examples from extant monarchies include the royal crowns of Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. The only example of a crown of a British monarch with eight half-arches is the Imperial Crown of India, made for King George V as Emperor of India to wear at the Delhi Durbar of 1911. The crowns of two 20th century British Queens consort also have eight half-arches, namely the Crown of Queen Alexandra (1902) and the Crown of Queen Mary (1911), reflecting their origins as European princesses from Denmark and Germany respectively.
In contrast, the crowns of British monarchs traditionally contain four half-arches; examples include St. Edward's Crown, the State Crown of George I, the Coronation Crown of George IV and the Imperial State Crown, and also the Crown of Scotland. The same is true for several British consort crowns, namely the State Crown of Mary of Modena, the Crown of Queen Adelaide and the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
The three crowns in existence of the Prince of Wales, the heir apparent to the British throne, all have one full arch, with a globe centred on the single arch rather than being the element to which each arch separately is joined, following an instruction laid down by King Charles II in 1677. Unlike the princely crowns of 1902 and 1969 however, where the single arch rises, in the Crown of Frederick, Prince of Wales (1728) the single arch dips in the centre, with the globe located in the centre of the dip.
Different crowns possess different-shaped half-arches. In some crowns, the half-arches dip down at the centre of the crown where they meet the globe. The most widely recognized example of this is St. Edward's Crown, the British coronation crown, while in others, such as Queen Elizabeth's consort crown, all four half-arches rise at a somewhat right angle, with no central dip.
However, in the case of the State Crown of George I, while the crown as originally designed had dipping arches, they were pulled up to a right angle for the coronation of King George II and have remained in that position.
In some crowns, such as the British Imperial State Crown, the half-arches are detachable, allowing the crown to be worn as a circlet. Alexandra of Denmark, Mary of Teck and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (British queens consort Alexandra, Mary and Elizabeth) all at various stages wore their own crowns as circlets, particularly after the deaths of the husbands, when one of their children was on the throne and they were the queen mother.
Where a crown possesses arches or half-arches, the circlet of the crown below the arches or half-arches are usually filled with velvet or other cloth, or with a jewelled metal cap. Different states and different crowns may possess different coloured cloth inlays.
The most widely used colours for cloth infills are purple, as in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth and in St. Edward's Crown, and dark red, as in the Imperial Crown of Austria.
Not all crowns possess arches. The Danish Crown of Christian IV that was used for the coronation of elected monarchs prior to the introduction of absolutism in 1660 has no covering at all but exists in circlet form, while the Papal Tiara rises as one solid silver (or in one occasion gold) unit. Nor are arches to be found on the Iron Crown of Lombardy, nor any of the Iranian Crown Jewels. Both the Imperial Crown of Russia and the Imperial Crown of Austria possess two central half-arches, with most of the rest of the crown covered in.
Crown jewels are the objects of metalwork and jewellery in the regalia of a current or former monarchy. They are often used for the coronation of a monarch and a few other ceremonial occasions. A monarch may often be shown wearing them in portraits, as they symbolize the power and continuity of the monarchy. Additions to them may be made, but since medieval times the existing items are typically passed down unchanged as they symbolize the continuity of the monarchy.
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, particularly in Commonwealth countries, as an abstract name for the monarchy itself, as distinct from the individual who inhabits it. A specific type of crown is employed in heraldry under strict rules. Indeed, some monarchies never had a physical crown, just a heraldic representation, as in the constitutional kingdom of Belgium.
The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, originally the Crown Jewels of England, are a collection of royal ceremonial objects kept in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, which include the coronation regalia and vestments worn by British monarchs.
St Edward's Crown is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of it have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th century.
The Imperial State Crown is one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and symbolises the sovereignty of the British monarch. It has existed in various forms since the 15th century. The 1937 version is worn by a new monarch for the first time in the royal procession following their coronation and subsequently used at State Openings of Parliament. The crown is adorned with 2,901 precious stones, including the Cullinan II diamond, St Edward's Sapphire, the Stuart Sapphire, and the Black Prince's Ruby.
The Honours of Scotland, informally known as the Scottish Crown Jewels, are the regalia that were worn by Scottish monarchs at their coronation. Kept in the Crown Room in Edinburgh Castle, they date from the 15th and 16th centuries, and are the oldest surviving set of crown jewels in the British Isles.
The coronation of the monarch of the United Kingdom is an initiation ceremony in which they are formally invested with regalia and crowned at Westminster Abbey. It corresponds to the coronations that formerly took place in other European monarchies, which have all abandoned coronations in favour of inauguration or enthronement ceremonies. A coronation is a symbolic formality and does not signify the official beginning of the monarch's reign; de jure and de facto their reign commences from the moment of the preceding monarch's death, maintaining legal continuity of the monarchy.
Danish Crown Regalia are the symbols of the Danish monarchy. They consist of three crowns, a Sceptre, Globus cruciger, the Sword of state and an Ampulla . The Danish Royal Regalia are kept in the treasury at Rosenborg Castle. The oldest of these is Christian III's sword of state from 1551. They further include King Christian IV's diamond; pearl- and gold-embroidered saddles; objects carved from ivory and rock-crystal; lapidary pieces of precious stones, and brooches in the form of fantastic animals.
The Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, also known as the Queen Mother's Crown, is the crown made for Queen Elizabeth to wear at her coronation in 1937 and State Openings of Parliament during the reign of her husband, King George VI. The crown was made by Garrard & Co., the Crown Jeweller at the time, and is modelled partly on the design of the Crown of Queen Mary, though it differs by having four half-arches instead of the eight that Queen Mary's Crown originally had. As with Queen Mary's Crown, its arches are detachable at the crosses pattée, allowing it to be worn as a circlet or open crown. It is the only crown for a British king or queen to be made of platinum.
The regalia of Norway are items that symbolise the Norwegian monarch's power and majesty. Little is known of the old Norwegian regalia which have since been lost. The majority of the modern regalia date from 1818 and were made for the coronation of Jean Bernadotte as King Carl III Johan.
A coronation crown is a crown used by a monarch when being crowned. In some monarchies, monarchs have or had a number of crowns for different occasions, such as a coronation crown for the moment of coronation and a state crown for general usage in state ceremonial.
A consort crown is a crown worn by the consort of a monarch for their coronation or on state occasions. Unlike with reigning monarchs, who may inherit one or more crowns for use, consorts sometimes had crowns made uniquely for them and which were worn by no other subsequent consorts.
The Crown of Queen Mary is a consort crown that was made in 1911 for the coronation of British queen Mary of Teck. Mary thereafter wore it on occasion in circlet form. It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. It was used again, in a slightly altered form, at the coronation of Queen Camilla on 6 May 2023.
The Crown of Queen Alexandra was the consort crown of the British queen Alexandra of Denmark. It was manufactured for the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. It is now in the royal collection.
The Crown of Queen Adelaide was the consort crown of the British queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. It was used at Adelaide's coronation in 1831. It was emptied of its jewels soon afterwards, and has never been worn since.
The Small Diamond Crown of Queen Victoria is a miniature imperial and state crown made at the request of Queen Victoria in 1870 to wear over her widow's cap following the death of her husband, Prince Albert. It was perhaps the crown most associated with the queen and is one of the Crown Jewels on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.
The Crown of Scotland is the centrepiece of the Honours of Scotland. It is the crown that was used at the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, and it is the oldest surviving crown in the British Isles and among the oldest in Europe.
Queen Elizabeth II owned a historic collection of jewels – some as monarch and others as a private individual. They are separate from the gems and jewels of the Royal Collection, and from the coronation and state regalia that make up the Crown Jewels.
The Tudor Crown, also known as the Imperial Crown, is a widely used symbol in the heraldry of the United Kingdom. In use officially from 1902 to 1953 and again from 2022, it represents both the British monarch personally and "the Crown", meaning the sovereign source of governmental authority. As such, it appears on numerous official emblems in the United Kingdom, British Empire and Commonwealth.
Coronations were previously held in the monarchies of Europe. The United Kingdom is the only monarchy in Europe that still practises coronation. Current European monarchies have either replaced coronations with simpler ceremonies to mark an accession or have never practised coronations. Most monarchies today only require a simple oath to be taken in the presence of the country's legislature.
