The coronation of King Charles was – at least – rich in splendor, with a crown, scepter and all other royal emblems, heirlooms, insignia, “shining” …

However, one item was missing from a ceremony at Westminster Abbey last Saturday and it was perhaps the most historic gem in the royal collection, writes Graham Lantry in Politico, citing Diamond Koh-i-Noor.

The Koh-i-Noor (given to Charles’ great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria in 1849), one of the largest and oldest diamonds in the world, was once on Queen Mary’s crown, a modified version of which was worn last Saturday by Charles’s wife, Queen Camilla.

This huge hundreds of carat diamond was worn by Mary at the coronation of her husband, King George V in 1911. 1937

However, last Saturday the Koh-i-Noor diamond was locked up in the Tower of London on the banks of the Thames.

The decision to keep Koh-i-Noor out of the final coronation ceremony was not just an aesthetic choice. Actually, The story of Charles’ “lost” diamond is part of a much broader 200-year geopolitical struggle that speaks volumes about the changes that have taken place in recent years and the UK’s place in the modern world.writes Graham Lantry in Politico.

The Koh-i-Noor diamond was brought to Britain in the early 19th century by the East India Company, a major military trading arm of the British Empire, and was taken from the boy king of the Punjab during the annexation of India. .

A replica of this great gem is now on display in a museum in Mumbai, but the Indians want the real diamond back.

The potential appearance of a disputed diamond at Charles’s coronation will cause “tensions,” a person familiar with the mindset of Narendra Modi’s Indian government told Politico.

This gem”evokes painful memories of the colonial past“, said earlier this year a spokesman for India’s prime minister’s party. Narendra Modi.

From the 17th century to the present day

The egg-sized diamond comes from the Mongol Empire of India, also known as the Mughal Empire, and more specifically from the Mongol Shah (Shah) Jahan. The Persian-Iranian Shah Nader (Nader Shah Afsar) of the Afsharid dynasty took it in the 18th century during his invasion of India, which then ended in Afghanistan before finally being placed on the armband of Ranjit Singh, the Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. As for the officers of the East India Company, they took it from the nine-year-old Dulip Singh, a descendant of Ranjit Singh, and handed it over to Queen Victoria in 1849.

Analysts and historians are now present, in 2023 – against the background of Brexit on the one hand, and the ongoing expansion of India on the other – this gem is still in the possession of the UK as an “open wound” and a “diplomatic grenade”..

The UK is looking for new trading partners after leaving the EU in 2020, and the dynamics of relations with India, its former colony, are changing. India overtook the UK last year to become the world’s fifth largest economy. Last month it surpassed China as the most populous country in the world. A trade deal with India is a key priority for British governments post-Brexit, and while these negotiations are ongoing, India wants its diamonds back, writes Graham Lanctrie in Politico, stressing, however, that neither the British government nor its Buckingham Palace plans to discuss the actual return of the diamond. .

Colonialism

However, the controversy surrounding Koh-i-Nur is also associated with how major European powers are now dealing with their colonial past.

Countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and France have returned historical relics to African countries in recent years, and Belgium is moving in the same direction.

But Britain still has something to cover on that front, and there is disagreement among the Tories now in government over whether Britain’s laws banning the export of museum treasures should be revisited.

In the meantime, some museum directors are taking matters into their own hands, notes Graeme Lanktry in Politico, referring to the talks former Conservative minister and current chairman of the British Museum George Osborne had with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis “about sharing the Parthenon Marbles through a new partnership agreement”…

According to Politico