Queen’s Speech: Why does the crown have its own car?

The jewel-encrusted crown is so valuable that only a few people are allowed to touch it

A car carrying Britain's Queen Elizabeth's crown rides by the Buckingham Palace (Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

Queen Elizabeth’s crown has arrived in its own car to the State Opening of Parliament that was carried out by her son Prince Charles.

The diamond-encrusted Imperial State Crown sat on a cushion as it was transported in a vehicle, with only the driver and two other men inside.

The vehicle travelled in a convoy, with three other cars tailing it, to the House of Lords. The other cars were carrying other crown jewels, including at least two ceremonial maces that were so long that they poked out of the windows.

On arrival at the Palaces of Westminster, a white-gloved senior member of the royal household carefully took the crown out of the car and handed it to a uniformed guard that had also been travelling in the vehicle.

Moments later, a car carrying Prince Charles arrives in the same location – ahead of the start of the ceremony that his 96-year-old mother could not partake in due to mobility issues.

But why this spectacle over a crown?

The Imperial State Crown is so valuable as it consists of 2,868 diamonds, 11 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls.

The State Opening of Parliament usually sees the monarch and the crown jewels travelling in horse-drawn carriages.

But the scaled-back plans for the ceremony has seen the mode of transport switch from carriages to limousines.

It appears that the crown is placed in its own carriage or car because only the Lord Great Chamberlain, who travels in the same vehicle, can carry it inside Parliament. He can only touch it by the velvet cushion it sits on.

Only three people are allowed to directly touch the crown. These are the monarch, the Archbishop of Canterbury during the coronation ceremony, and the Crown Jeweller who cleans the crown jewels every January.

When the crown is moved around London, it’s under armed guard protection at all times.

Following the State Opening of Parliament, the crown jewels are returned to the Tower of London.

How often does the Queen wear it?

The Queen usually wears the crown, that weighs about 1kg, every year for the State Opening of Parliament.

Instead, she opts to wear the lighter and smaller George IV State Diadem, while the Imperial State Crown sits next her throne.

In 2018, the Queen said about the weight of the crown: “You can’t look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech up. Because if you did, your neck would break, it would fall off.

“So there are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise they’re quite important things.”