The Keeper of the Jewel House has always been, and is to this day, a member of the Sovereign’s Household. In former times he held certain rights. privileges, and precedence, but these in the course of ages have mostly melted away, though his warrants of appointment have from time to time stated that he was to enjoy all the rights and privileges of his predecessors. For instance, one of the rights, or rather, as we should now style it, one of the duties of the Keeper, was never to let the crown out of his keeping. So definite were his instructions that he had personally to take the crown from the Tower to the King’s Palace, and with his own hand place it on the King’s head. He had then to follow the King wherever he went, say to the opening of Parliament, never allowing the crown to be out of his sight. On the return to the palace he was to take the crown off the King’s head, and return with it to the Tower. This procedure is now much altered. The Keeper of the Jewel House, on demand of the Lord Chamberlain, hands over the crown to him or his representative, takes a receipt for it, and has no further responsibility till the crown is returned to him.
In Tudor days the Keeper of the Jewel House was generally made a Privy Councillor, and if not already of higher rank was created a Knight, and ranked as the senior Knight Bachelor of the Kingdom. At a coronation he wore a robe very like that of a Baron, but with a crown embroidered in gold on his left shoulder. A robe very like this is still the official robe of the Keeper; it is, however, of crimson silk more like that of a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, with a golden crown embroidered on the left shoulder. The whole costume may be seen in Sir George Naylor’s book of the Coronation of George IV.
In precedence the Keeper ranked after Privy Councillors and before all Judges, and had, as at present, the private entrée at all State functions at Court. As late as the seventeenth century none below the rank of Baron, and the Keeper of the Jewel House who ranked as a Baron, were allowed this privilege.
A very curious privilege which the Keeper of the Jewel House still retains is that “he hath no superior Officer in Court or Kingdom.” He receives no orders except from the King himself or conveyed to him through the Lord Chamberlain. The origin of this rule is not far to seek, for otherwise, in less settled days, anybody who was in a position to do so might have ordered the Keeper to hand over portions of the Regalia or Royal Plate. As a safeguard against the Keeper or his officers tampering with the Crown Jewels, it was open to a committee detailed by the Lords of the Treasury to inspect the Regalia at such times as they might think fit. In spite, however, of these precautions there is very conclusive evidence that the regal emblems were constantly being tampered with, valuable stones extracted and coloured glass inserted to replace them. Who committed these abstractions, whether the Keeper himself or whether by the King’s command, is not certain; perhaps more probably the losses were due to the Crown Jewels being insufficiently protected and guarded. As late as the reign of James II we have a record of the new King paying as much as £500 for the hire of Jewels for the day of his Coronation, presumably to replace pieces of coloured glass found in the regal emblems. A somewhat notable instance of this is the large, faceted globe or monde which used to be on the top of the King’s Crown. This was always described as a very valuable aquamarine, and is portrayed on the crowns of several sovereigns. Unhappily, on examination the magnificent aquamarine was found to be of glass, the real stone having been removed in some previous reign and replaced by a worthless imitation. This glass replica, as before mentioned, is shown as a curiosity amongst the Crown Jewels.
To emphasise the position of the Keeper of the Regalia he was frequently made a Privy Councillor, and amongst those specially mentioned as such, are Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, and the two Cary’s, probably father and son, who succeeded each other. Taken as a whole, therefore, it is evident that the office was both in dignity and emoluments a very valuable one, and as such naturally much sought after. It is calculated that, allowing for the difference of value then and now, that about £10,000 a year would be the present equivalent of the Keeper’s pay and emoluments. Both Thomas Cromwell and Sir Henry Mildmay became very rich indeed, whilst Sir Gilbert Talbot died by no means a pauper.
Compared to this brilliant and opulent past the present may seem a less entrancing vista for the Keeper of the Jewel House; but times and customs have changed, and an old officer with £300 a year added to his pension, with snug quarters provided by the King in the Tower of London, finds himself in a more honorable and less precarious position than his ancient predecessors with their bribes and perquisites, but surrounded by jealous enemies, and always with the block on Tower Hill upon the near horizon.
CHAPTER X
THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS
The Black Prince’s ruby—Its great size and value—Came to the British in 1367—Henry V wears the ruby at the battle of Agincourt—Its narrow escape—On Bosworth Field—Henry VII—The ruby is sold for £4 after Charles I was beheaded—In the State Crown of Charles II—Stolen by Colonel Blood and found in Parrett’s pocket—Now in King George’s State Crown—The Koh-i-Nur—Its bloody history—Nadir Shah obtains it by strategy—He is murdered—Passes to the Afghan throne—Shah Suja brings it to Lahore—Captured by the British—Presented by the Army to Queen Victoria—Now in the diamond crown of Queen Mary—The sapphire of Edward the Confessor—Said to have magic qualities—The Stuart sapphire—Bequeathed to George III by Cardinal York—Now in the band of the King’s State Crown—The Stars of Africa—The largest diamond in the world—Presented to Edward VII by the Union of South Africa—Cut into four great portions—Value of the stars—Some historic diamonds—Pearls of Queen Elizabeth—Their history—Now on the King’s State Crown—The perils of the Jewels in the Great War—Four narrow escapes.
THE history of England might be written round the gems that adorn, and in many cases, grace the regal emblems. Of the greater precious stones there are connected and authentic traditions which carry them back to Edward the Confessor, or to the Black Prince, or to Queen Elizabeth; but besides these are many thousands of smaller stones set in the crowns, some of which, as is testified by their cutting, are of untold antiquity. These have probably been set and reset in the crowns of the Kings of England for centuries, but being of no remarkable size or shape are not recognisable in the presentments of ancient crowns. Even in this year of grace it is found impossible to pictorially portray a diamond so as to give even moderate justice to the original. Leaving, therefore, the smaller stones to their silent testimony, it is possible to give the romantic stories of the greater gems.