A Smiling Queen Elizabeth II Explains the Challenges of Wearing the ‘Unwieldy’ Imperial State Crown

In a lighthearted BBC interview with Alastair Bruce, a smiling Queen Elizabeth II examined the iconic Imperial State Crown worn by both her father and herself during their respective Coronations and spoke delightedly about its jewels, its weight, how to wear such a heavy item and how to read while wearing this crown.

It’s very unwieldy. …Once you put it on, it stays. I mean, it just remains still. You can’t look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech up, because if you did your neck would break and it would fall off. So there are some disadvantages to the crown, but they’re quite important things.

This interview is part of a The Coronation, a BBC documentary celebrating the 65th anniversary of the event, which aired on January 14, 2017.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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