Love’s Crown

Diamond engagement rings are an expression of crowning love, with white diamonds being the most popular. A more unusual expression of love is that found in the iconic small diamond crown worn by Queen Victoria.

Queen Victoria had withdrawn from public life on the death of her beloved consort Prince Albert in 1861 and went into deep mourning. In 1870, she was persuaded to return to her public and had this crown made to replace the Imperial State Crown as it was too heavy and could not be worn with her mourning veil.

The small crown is only 9 centimetres across and 10 centimetres high and is made of silver in the traditional design of a British crown. It has four arches meeting with a cross on top and fleur de lys on the lower band. It contains 1,187 diamonds which came from a necklace the Queen already owned. She chose white diamonds because coloured gems were not worn during mourning. She wore it at all state occasions from the State Opening of Parliament in 1871 until her death in 1901, when it was placed upon her coffin. It was passed down to Queens Alexandra and Mary and is now on display with the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.

You do not have to be as wealthy as Queen Victoria to show your love to the world. At Marlows we have a range of sparkling colourless diamond engagement rings, diamond wedding rings and diamond eternity bands. You may also choose from our loose cut diamonds collection if you wish to set them in your own jewellery.