- During the 2019 Queen's Speech, Queen Elizabeth II chose not to wear the Imperial State Crown, marking the second time she didn't wear the headpiece at the ceremony since she took the throne.
- Instead, the Imperial State Crown rested on a table to her side.
- The monarch opted for a lighter, diamond-studded crown.
For only the second time since she took the throne in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II chose to not wear the Imperial State Crown during the ceremonial Queen's Speech.
The cause for her unusual break from royal tradition is fairly reasonable: At a little more than two pounds, the Imperial State Crown is simply too heavy for the 93-year-old monarch, according to People and other royal watchers. Instead, she wore the smaller George IV State Diadem, while her usual headpiece laid on a velvet pillowed table to her side.
View full post on XThe Imperial State Crown, which was made for King George VI's coronation in 1937, features an openwork gold frame, a purple velvet cap, 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and 269 pearls, according to the Royal Collection Trust. The design was closely based on a crown made for Queen Victoria in 1838. Queen Elizabeth also wore the Imperial State Crown to her own coronation.
The sovereign once joked about the weight of the headpiece in a BBC documentary. "You can’t look down to read the speech," she said, per People. "Because if you did, your neck would break — it would fall off."
Meanwhile, the diadem, which was made for King George IV in 1820, features an openwork silver frame and 1,333 diamonds, according to the Royal Collection Trust. Queen Elizabeth regularly wears this headpiece when traveling to and from the State Opening of Parliament.
The last time the queen didn't wear the Imperial State Crown while delivering the Queen's Speech was in 2017, due to then-Prime Minister Theresa May's snap election. The timing of the snap election meant that there was not enough time to prepare a sufficient rehearsal with the crown, according to the Mirror. Instead, the monarch wore a blue hat with flowers.
