Crown of Queen Alexandra 1980576 223899942 2008-07-06T12:12:23Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other [[Image:200px-Alexandra of Denmark.JPG|thumb|Queen Alexandra wearing her crown in her coronation photograph. The [[Europe]]an-style crown contained more half arches than was usual in British crowns, and had its cap placed lower, allowing a clear view ''through'' the crown.]]<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Queen-alex.JPG|left|thumb|The Queen wearing her crown, minus its half-arches, as a [[circlet]]. Alexandra's crown was one of the first British consort crowns to contain detachable half-arches.]] --> {{unreferenced|date=August 2007}} The '''Crown of Queen Alexandra''' was the [[consort crown]] of [[Alexandra of Denmark]], the [[queen consort]] of King [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom]]. It was manufactured for the 1902 [[coronation]]. ==Background== Queen [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]'s death in January 1901 brought to an end a gap of sixty-four years when the [[United Kingdom]] had been without a crowned [[queen consort]], since [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] had not been crowned as a consort. Traditionally [[Queen Consort|queens consort]] had been crowned with the 17th century [[Crown of Mary of Modena]]. However in 1831, [[Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen]], consort of King [[William IV of the United Kingdom]], was crowned with a 4 [[half-arch (crowns)|half-arched]] new small crown, the [[Crown of Queen Adelaide]], because the Modena crown was judged too poor in quality, too old and too [[theatre|theatrical]]. In 1902 it was decided to use neither the Modena nor Adelaide crowns for the first coronation of a queen consort in six decades. Instead it was decided to create a brand new [[consort crown]], to be named after Queen Alexandra. ==Style== The crown itself departed from the standard style of British crowns, and was more akin to [[Europe]]an royal crowns. It was less upright than the norm in British crowns, and more squat in design, with an unpredecented eight half-arches. Its front arch joined a [[Gemstone|jewel]]led cross into which was set the [[Koh-i-Noor]] diamond. As with the later [[Crown of Queen Mary]] and [[Crown of Queen Elizabeth]], the arches were detachable, allowing the crown to be worn as a [[circlet]]. The Crown of Queen Alexandra was not worn by later queens, with new crowns being created for [[Mary of Teck]] in 1911 and [[Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon]] in 1937. The Crown of Queen Alexandra is currently on display at the National Army Museum in London, United Kingdom. The major stones have been replaced with artificial ones referred to as paste. {{Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom}} [[Category:Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Crowns|Alexandra]] [[he:כתר המלכה אלכסנדרה]]