Diamond dilemma

The Cullinan diamond is the largest

rough-cut diamond ever found, mined in South Africa in 1905 and presented to King Edward VII as a gesture of friendship and loyalty. However, Queen Camilla has been urged not to wear it for next week’s state visit by Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president. Calls are growing

for the diamond to be returned to South Africa and put on display in a museum. They include an online petition started after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September. Zwelinzima Vavi, 59, a South African trade unionist whose father worked in the mines during the height of

apartheid, said if the diamond was worn by either the Queen or the Princess of Wales next week it would “be like spitting in the face of South Africans.”