Legend has it that all the men who have owned the Koh-i-Noor have fallen from grace.
A Hindu text from the 14th century says that "whoever possesses this diamond will dominate the world, but he will also know all the misfortunes of it.
Only God or a woman can carry it with impunity."
No one has dared to challenge the prophecy in recent centuries, but things could change, as it is a man, Charles III of England, who has just inherited it.
The Koh-i-Noor is one of the largest diamonds in the world.
Wars have been fought in its name.
It belonged to Hindu, Mongol, Persian and Afghan monarchs.
And in 1877 it passed into the hands of the British royal family, when Queen Victoria was named Empress of India.
The jewel was set in the center of the so-called Crown of Queen Elizabeth, which the new king has now inherited.
Many hope that he will not be the one to wear it and that, following family tradition - or superstition - he will give it to his wife, the queen consort Camila.
Many others in India expect something else.
The death of Isabel II, on September 8, has galvanized an old international dispute in recent days.
The Indian authorities believe that the inclusion of this national jewel in the British crown is a symbol of the colonial yoke.
They assure that the piece was stolen by the British royal family, not given away.
And the accusations have intensified in recent days on social networks, where the name of the jewel became a
trending topic
as soon as the death of the monarch was announced.
The dispute goes back a long way.
In 2010, the then British Prime Minister, David Cameron, addressed the issue on Indian television with a statement that went around the world: "If we agreed to all the requests, the British Museum would be empty."
More information
Jewels, stamps and 32,000 swans.
This is how the inheritance of Isabel II, one of the richest women in the world, will be distributed
This is one of the many stories that have come out of Elizabeth II's jewelery box in recent days and it represents very well why they have aroused the interest of the British (and world) people, since they combine the luxury and pageantry of the crown with its original sin .
They are jewels, but they tell stories of curses, palace intrigues and moral and international conflicts.
The UK's parliamentary year opened in 2022 with a speech by then-Prince Charles.
There was, yes, the Crown of Queen Elizabeth, although the current monarch did not wear it. getty images
They are so famous that they have ended up becoming an expression: the Crown Jewels are a collection of jewels and treasures that is considered to be the most valuable in the world.
More than two million people visit each year at the Tower of London.
The Edward the Confessor Crown, the Imperial State Crown, the Indian Crown, the State Diadem, the Small Crown of Queen Victoria, the Crown of Queen Elizabeth, the Crown of George, Prince of Wales... They all belong to the institution, not to the person of Isabel II, with which they have automatically passed to the new King Carlos III, although he can leave them to different members of the royal family, as his mother already did.
Kate Middleton has worn tiaras, brooches and chokers belonging to the royal family with some regularity.
She walks too.
Even Meghan Markle, before she distanced herself from the family,
She wore them at special events like her wedding to Prince Harry.
Typically, these pieces are only used for the coronation of a monarch, in official portraits, and on some ceremonial occasions.
What jewels will the queen be buried with?
A state funeral and a coronation are two quite ceremonial acts, so speculation about the jewels that the protagonists will wear has skyrocketed in recent days.
During the funeral, Elizabeth II's coffin will be decorated with four objects, as tradition dictates: the standard of the British monarch, the scepter of the cross, the orb of the sovereign and the crown of the imperial state (which have already been seen in his move from Buckingham Palace to Parliament).
The latter has more than 3,000 precious stones embedded, but it is one in particular that has caught the attention of the press.
The Culligan I diamond, known as the Great Star of Africa, was found in South Africa in 1905. A Boer general bought the stone and gave it to Edward VII, King of England at the time, as a token of the Boer people's loyalty.
a few years after the war between England and its colonies.
The gesture was seen as an act of colonialist servitude even at the time and even today many South Africans are calling for the diamond to be returned.
These objects will adorn the coffin of the queen, but many speculate on the jewels with which she will be buried.
Lisa Levinson, head of communications for the Natural Diamond Council jewelers association, told the British media outlet
Metro
that she believes she will do it with her "simple Welsh gold wedding ring and a pair of pearl earrings."
Levinson assures that her engagement ring, which belonged to Philip of Edinburgh's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, will probably be given to Princess Anne, although there is no official information about it.
Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Cambridge emeralds, a set of jewels that led to the secrecy of royal wills in England.
The photo is from a banquet in Singapore, in October 1989. Tim Graham (Getty Images)
About the coronation ceremony of Carlos III (what has taken place these days has been his proclamation, not his coronation) there are less certainties.
It will be held next year 2023, and is being prepared in an operation pompously called
Golden Orb
.
Several British media have assured that it will be smaller, shorter and cheaper than the one that crowned the late queen 70 years ago.
Even so, it seems unlikely that the ceremony, linked to the tradition and pageantry of this centuries-old institution, would take place without certain liturgical elements.
Charles III will receive the Crown of Saint Edward, the most important piece of the British crown jewels, from the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
It is the most valuable crown in the collection, the one used to crown the monarchs of the United Kingdom.
It was made for the coronation of King Carlos II.
For her part, Camila is expected to wear the Crown of Queen Elizabeth, with the Koh-i-Noor.
They may thus avoid the curse, but they will surely fuel the controversy and the confrontation with the Indian people.
It remains to be seen what will happen to Elizabeth of England's personal jewelery box, the medals linked to her person and not to the institution and which, therefore, she will be able to bequeath freely.
The English tabloids speculate on the fate of a chest that houses more than 300 pieces, with a value of more than 120 million euros.
Most of her jewelry came from the legacy of two royal matriarchs: her grandmother, Queen Mary of Teck, and her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.
Some media suggest that they will be divided between Camila, Kate Middleton and her daughter Carlota.
Lauren Kiehna, author of
The Court Jeweler,
has reason to think it won't.
Speaking to the media
Page Six
, this historian has ventured that the queen will bequeath everything to her son, for historical and economic reasons.
“I think it is very likely that the queen followed in the footsteps of her grandmother, Queen Mary [of Teck], and her mother, the Queen Mother, and bequeathed all of her jewelery directly to the new monarch, King Carlos III”, she stated.
This is so because the direct inheritance between monarchs, as is the case, is free of the 40% tax that applies to any other inheritance in England that exceeds 325,000 pounds (almost 375,000 euros).
In any case, the public will never know.
Another peculiarity of royal wills in England is that they are secret.
The practice of sealing them began a century ago and has been carried over to the will of the Duke of Edinburgh, the most recent before Elizabeth II.
During this time, the family has asked the court to keep 33 wills secret and assets worth at least 187 million pounds (about 223 million euros) updated at today's prices have been distributed behind the public's back, according to calculations by
Guardian
.
The measure was introduced to quell a mess of skirts of Prince Francis of Teck, great-uncle of Elizabeth II.
He bequeathed in his will the most valuable jewels of the family, the Cambridge emeralds, to his mistress, a noble and married woman.
Queen María de Teck, Francisco's sister, then requested that the will of her relative be kept secret to avoid a scandal.
And she succeeded, setting a precedent that the Windsors have clung to ever since.
The will was secret, but valid, so her lover inherited the jewels for a short time.
Mary of Teck bought them for around £10,000 at the time and reintegrated them into her family legacy.
Queen Elizabeth II wore them on more than one occasion.
She will now distribute them, secretly and perhaps tax-free, among her own.
