WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TUDOR CROWN? What happened to the crown jewels? Most famous royal jewels

The TUDOR CROWN is one of the most famous royal jewels lost to history. Having been created for either Henry VII or Henry VIII, it was described in minute detail in an inventory of 1521 and pictured over a century later in numerous portraits of Charles I and his family, but when Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians got their hands on it in the late 1640s, it, along with most of the rest of the English Crown Jewels was melted down so that its gold could be used for coinage and its precious stones were sold off. After all, they thought, the purpose of crown jewels was to show off the wealth and power of the monarchy and the Cromwellians had toppled and executed the King. A completely new suite of jewels had to be created at the time of the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, but Henry VIII’s crown (as he’s the first person we know for sure wore it) was gone.

In this royal jewels documentary from History Calling, we look at the paper trail and the pictorial evidence to establish what this famous crown looked like, what Henry VIII wore it for, how it was altered after the Reformation and just how sumptuous it was. We’ll also look at its appearance (in simplified form) in numerous royal monograms, or cyphers, over the last 400 years (including in the monogram of Charles III) and at how it can still be seen on telephone boxes, post boxes and royal and governmental correspondence to this day. Finally we’ll consider the theory that one small piece of this crown was rediscovered by accident in a field in 2021.

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[FREE] Amateur Treasure Hunter Unearths Missing Centerpiece of Henry VIII’s Crown

Thumbnail: Charles I (1600–1649), King of England, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of George A. Hearn, 1906, public domain (detail with colours enhanced). Also portrait of Tudors, Chicago Art Institute, CC0 (detail).

[jacquelynbrown]

Just wanted to thank you for enabling closed captioning on your videos my husband is deaf and it means I can share these videos with him we both love history

[annmoore]

The likelihood that a monarch lost the little figurine from such an elaborate crown during a battle seems pretty dim. How on earth could you move quickly and wield a sword effectively while balancing on your head something designed for extremely formal and sumptuous events like coronations? I thought the crowns worn by kings in battle in earlier times (e.g. Richard III at Bosworth Field, later claimed by the brand-new Henry VII) were much simpler affairs. It does seem weird, however, that it turned up in the same place where a battle had been fought. But if it had been detached and sold during the breaking up of the crown jewels and later dropped there, that would be even more strange, especially since you didn't mention that the figures of the saints were still on the crown and sold as distinct items. The record said that all the gold was melted down. Were there any witnesses to this alleged metal detecting event?

[galghoul]

The Parliamentarian actions remind me of the myriad of articles I read about relics (religious and not) destroyed and sacked by French Revolutionaries. My heart sinks deeper and deeper.

[csh]

The history of artifacts can be at least as fascinating as that of people. It's sad to think that such an important item was utterly destroyed. It would be amazing if the little figure was actually from the crown; it's a shame there's currently no way to really know. If it was, I think that would render it a priceless piece of English history! Very interesting story - the article you linked is very interesting, as well. Thank you!!

[stephencarrillo]

Fantastic, HC! Had to back out of the premier settings to bring up the Super Thanks feature. It was great to see the interaction among your international fan base.

[lucysmith]

Wouldn't it be incredible if indeed the little figure was off the Tudor crown, it would give us a better understanding of the crown itself. Great video as always, would love to see more videos like this especially about what happened to previous royal crowns

[annmoore]

Oh, by the way, HC, I'm an amateur silversmith, and I thought I'd mention that today we use the term "bezel" to describe a collar of metal used to hold a gemstone securely on another piece of metal such as a ring, pendant or crown. If you look closely at the Imperial State Crown, you can see that the Black Prince's ruby is held in place by a bezel. Of course, prongs are also used, especially on rings, to elevate a transparent gemstone and let plenty of light sparkle through it.

[LaPinturaBella]

It's such a shame it's been lost. It's beautiful.

[AXEL]

It is possible that parts of the Tudor crown still exist today, by that I mean some of the precious stones that were stripped from it and sold on, but we will probably never know for sure. When I was studying at university in 1984, I recall reading a newspaper report that some sort of receipt for gunpowder believed linked to Guy Fawkes had been found misfiled in some Archives. So there may be further documentary evidence lurking somewhere waiting to be found that may shed further light on the fate of the Tudor crown. Congratulations on another fine video. 👏

[lindacoolbaugh]

I was always interested in The Tudor Era. I was at the Tower in early October and my eyes melted at looking at the Crown Jewels. But if the Tudor Crown was in there, I think my head would of exploded! Damn shame it was destroyed.

[straingedays]

The Tudor crown, was one of so many Ancient and Historical items forever lost
My heart sinks every time hearing treasures: "Destroyed under Oliver Cromwell"

[Moomin]

I can literally sit and listen to Your Videos all day - They keep Me company while I work and create much discussion and interest for Me and My 9 Year Old Daughter - Every Video is so well researched and must take hours to create - Each one focuses on facts and not a glorified or embellished version of History - This Video struck My Daughter heavily as She was sad to realise that She can't see this wonderful object in the Tower Collection at Our Yearly visit due to the frankly appalling actions of others - Please keep releasing these Videos - They are simply superb History Calling

[douglaspkeatingjr]

I just adore hearing your voice. It’s such an added pleasure to the thorough and concise way you share your knowledge with us.

[notbill]

Great video! I really appreciate that you stick to source materials rather than rumors!

[annmoore]

A luscious topic for today, and a nice little mystery at the end! Perfect for a day when Americans are sleeping off a heavy holiday meal and many of us are resisting huge pressure from the retail industry to engage in conspicuous consumption.

[namaschu]

Thank you so much for another interesting episode of the Tudor History 👑

[Moebian]

Loved it! You always make great videos on old English history, something brushed on during my World History in 9th grade.

[angelicagaldos]

I can't wait! I already know it's going to be an awesome video

[nicolawalton]

How funny I find this video the day after reading a Sherlock Holmes story in which Sherlock recovers this very crown. If only! The story I heard about the supposed part of the crown that was found in 2017 was that it was believed to have been either dropped or buried by someone trying to hide it, but I can't remember offhand where I read/heard that.

[vernon]

Great video look forward to the next one.