The first royal jewellery collection was that amassed by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century, and which was entrusted to Westminster Abbey for safekeeping. In 1303, a theft at the Abbey led to the collection being transferred to the Tower of London, where it remained until the overthrow of the monarchy and the execution of Charles I in 1649. Nearly all the royal regalia was then melted down for coins or sold off by Cromwell’s Parliamentarians, with only a small number of items – namely, three swords and a coronation spoon – being preserved.

When the monarchy was restored in 1660, a new crown was commissioned for the coronation of Charles II. This is the one still in use today, and which was placed on the Queen’s head during her own coronation by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1953. The crown is known as St Edward’s Crown, because the solid gold from which the main structure is made is said to have formed Edward the Confessor’s crown.

The other two essential ceremonial accessories for the coronation are the orb and sceptre, both of which were also made for Charles II’s coronation. The orb is a golden ball surmounted by a jewelled cross, to remind the monarch that there is a higher power than him or her. It is hollow, and consequently weighs only about three pounds, which is just as well as it must be held in the right hand while the monarch is being crowned.

In the left hand is placed the sceptre, token of the monarch’s earthly power. Around 3ft long, the sceptre is a golden stick encrusted with hundreds of precious stones, including the largest, priceless fragment of the famous 530-carat Cullinan diamond, otherwise known as the Star of Africa.

A lucky escape

The crown jewels have been kept under continuous armed guard in the tower since an unfortunate incident in 1671, when a reckless adventurer named Colonel Thomas Blood was apprehended just on the point of making a getaway at the east gate of the Tower with the crown, orb and sceptre in his possession.

A blacksmith’s son from County Clare in Ireland, Blood had come to England to fight on the royalist side during the civil war, but soon switched allegiances to the Cromwellians. Having befriended the keeper of the Crown Jewels, Talbot Edwards, and his family, he betrayed their trust one evening, asking to see the jewels and then stabbing Edwards, almost fatally.

On being arrested with the orb down his trousers, and having clumsily flattened the crown with a mallet, Blood demanded that he be tried only by the king in person. Not only did he get his wish but, to general gasps of incredulity, the king pardoned him, making him a gift of lands in Ireland with an income of £500 a year, and evidently tolerating his bumptious presence as a regular fixture at the royal court. He died in 1680.

Also in the collection

As well as the coronation crown, there is also an Imperial State Crown, which dates in its present form from 1937, but was originally made for the coronation of Queen Victoria. This crown is traditionally worn at State banquets and other national occasions, such as the opening of Parliament. Another piece of the Cullinan diamond is set into it.

Other than the personal adornments, the collection also includes such majestic pieces as the golden wine cistern, made towards the end of the reign of George IV in 1829, and the christening font - designed to look like a giant silver lily by Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert, in 1841. The font was first used at the baptism of Queen Victoria’s first child, Princess Victoria. In keeping with a tradition as old as the Crusades, it was filled with water collected from the river Jordan.

Among the banqueting ware is the gorgeous, ornate salt-cellar in the shape of a castle. Made in Hamburg in 1630 by the goldsmith Johann Hass, the salt-cellar was presented to Charles II on his coronation by the city of Exeter, and has been known ever since as the Exeter Salt. The turrets at each of the four corners may be detached from the main piece, to reveal the four salt receptacles. Little drawers set into the main body of the castle are for pepper and other table condiments.

The Jewel House

A new Jewel House, occupying most of the ground floor of the Waterloo Barracks at the Tower, was opened by the Queen in 1994. It is a state-of-the-art display with a moving walkway to maximise visitor throughput. The jewels recline on French velvet, behind 2in-thick, bulletproof glass.