The plans for the Queen Consort to wear a crown containing the Koh-i-Noor diamond at the King’s coronation may be shelved as it could bring back "painful memories".
Buckingham Palace announced this week that King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla Parker Bowles' coronation will be held next year on Saturday, May 6, in Westminster Abbey.
During the historic event, the new King will be anointed with holy oil, receive the orb, coronation ring, and scepter, and be crowned with St Edward's Crown, while the Queen Consort will be crowned with holy oil and the Queen Mother's crown.
On the front of the late Queen Mother's crown sits one of the largest cut diamonds in the world that was given to Queen Victoria by the East India Company. The treasure soon became part of the Crown Jewels after she passed away.
According to the Independent, a campaign in India has asked the United Kingdom to return the jewel even though it is also claimed by Afghanistan and Pakistan.
However, while there are disputes between the Asian nations over which country is the rightful owner of the thousand-year-old 105.6 carats, all three seemingly agreed that it should be removed from the Crown Jewels.
As reported by the Telegraph, a spokesman for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party said this week: "The coronation of Camilla and the use of the crown jewel Koh-i-Noor brings back painful memories of the colonial past."
"Most Indians have very little memory of the oppressive past. Five to six generations of Indians suffered under multiple foreign rules for over five centuries," the spokesman continued.
"Recent occasions, like Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the coronation of the new Queen Camilla, and the use of the Koh-i-noor does transport a few Indians back to the days of the British Empire in India," he concluded.
In late Queen Victoria's will, before she passed, she wrote that the gem should only be worn by a female monarch or the wife of the head of state.
It has since been seen on the crowns of the late Queen Alexandra, the late Queen Mary, the late-Queen Elizabeth II, and the late Queen Mother who wore it twice.
The former Queen wore it during the reign of King George VI - once at the State Openings of Parliament - and again at the coronation of her Majesty's reign.
The Telegraph reported that the palace has not confirmed whether the Queen Consort would use the crown, pick another or have her own designed. Another source added that any claims containing details of the plans for coronation are merely speculation.
Camilla will be crowned alongside the King in Westminster Abbey - eight months after the monarch's accession and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Palace said in a statement the ceremony will be "rooted in long-standing traditions and pageantry" but will also "reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future".
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