“Queen Consort of England Refuses to Wear Koh-i-Noor Crown, Ignites Demands for Repatriation”

Jakarta –

In a departure from tradition, the Queen Consort of England, Camilla, refused to wear the Koh-i-Noor crown at the coronation of King Charles on Saturday (6/5). The pretext was not wanting to offend “political sensitivities”, a member of the royal family told British media.

Diamonds, which are believed to bring bad luck to men, have always been worn by women. Starting from Queen Viktoria, the Koh-i-Noor crown was inherited by Empress Mary and Alexandra, before being worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her inauguration in 1953.

Camilla’s refusal coincided with demands for the return of objects stolen from colonialism, which had recently become stronger.

History of Koh-i-Noor

The 105-carat diamond holds a long history of conquest and imperialism. Its existence was first recorded by the Persian historian Muhammad Kazim Marvi in ​​the middle of the 18th century.

Scientists believe the Koh-i-Noor originates from Golconda in southern India. This diamond was plundered by the Turks in the early Middle Ages before being inherited by Islamic dynasties in India, including later the Mughal dynasty.

The Kingdom of Punjab was the last owner of the Koh-i-Noor before it was conquered by the British and presented as a gift to Queen Victoria in 1849.

Since then, the diamond “symbolizes the Victorian dynasty’s imperial domination of the world and their ability to seize the most valuable objects around the world and present them in a triumphant pose,” write Willian Dalrymple and Anita Anand in their book about Koh-i-Noor, 2017 ago.

British imperialism symbol

Currently, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan as well as Iran claim ownership of the Koh-i-Noor and demand its return from the UK.

“There have been a number of demands to return the diamonds to India, from politicians, activists to historians. We believe that all objects plundered by colonialism must be returned as a symbol of historical injustice,” said Anuraag Saxena, an activist with the India Pride Project in Singapore.

A similar view was expressed by the initiator of the repatriation petition from India in the US, Venktesh Shukla. Through the petition, which so far has only collected 9,600 signatures, he demands that the Koh-i-Noor be returned immediately.

“They should be ashamed of what they have done, how did they get the Koh-i-Noor,” he said. “But instead of being embarrassed, they even show it off,” he said.

In 2016, the Indian government said how Koh-i-Noor was given as a gift to the British monarchy. But that statement was later corrected with a promise to negotiate a fair solution.

imperialist tradition

Buckingham Palace’s decision not to display the Koh-i-Noor at King Charles’s inauguration was claimed to be a compromise between reflecting tradition and “sensitivity to contemporary issues,” a government official told the Daily Mail.

But this sensitivity does not apply to the Cullinan diamond that now adorns Camila’s crown. The diamond was cut from the world’s largest diamond, the Cullinan, which the British mined in their South African possessions in the early 1900s.

The sins of colonialism were not only enjoyed by Buckingham Palace, but also by various royal institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum. The two institutions also housed thousands of artefacts that were looted or stolen from colonial countries.

“Isn’t it time for the UK to follow the lead of other countries,” said Indian activist Saxena, referring to the returns of stolen items by the United States, Germany, France, Canada and Australia.

“Returning our artefacts is perhaps the easiest way for Britain to atone for its colonial sins,” he concluded.

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