Don’t wear ‘colonial’ diamond, Queen urged
Activists say Cullinan stone associated with imperialist era must be kept out of South African leader’s visit
‘It would be flaunting the history of Cecil John Rhodes and the colonial mining industry in our faces’
IT 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, the Queen has been urged not to wear the Cullinan diamond 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.
Zwelinzima Vavi, 59, a South African trade unionist whose father worked in the mines during the height of apartheid, said that 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”.
He added: “It would be most unfortunate and would be flaunting the history of Cecil John Rhodes in our faces and, of course, the colonial era’s mining industry, a period where the minerals and the land were taken from us which we then had to fight for.”
Susan Booysen, a South African political analyst, said it was “hard to imagine” that any of the Royal family would wear the diamond. “Given South Africa’s history and the effects of the colonial period, especially within the mining industry, this would, I am sure, shock Mr Ramaphosa and many South Africans,” she said.
Buckingham Palace has not revealed which pieces of jewellery will be worn by members of the Royal family during Tuesday’s state banquet.
During their two-day visit, Mr Ramaphosa and his wife, Dr Tshepo Motsepe, will view an exhibition of items from the Royal collection relating to South Africa, likely to include medals presented to the late Queen by Nelson Mandela.
The display may also include items relating to the then Princess Elizabeth’s tour of southern Africa in 1947, when she delivered a historic speech on her 21st birthday declaring “that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service”.
She was presented with a gift of 21 large South African diamonds, which she referred to as “my best diamonds”.
The 3,106-carat uncut Cullinan diamond was discovered at the Premier Mine near Pretoria, in January 1905.
It was shipped to London for inspection by Edward VII but attempts to sell it failed as no one could understand how a stone so big could possibly be cut.
Eventually, the prime minister of Transvaal suggested that his government purchase the diamond and present it to the King as a token of loyalty.
It was cut by Asscher & Co in the Netherlands in 1908, and the two largest gems were presented to the King at Windsor. They remain the two largest colourless and flawless cut diamonds in the world and are set in the Sovereign’s Sceptre and the Imperial State Crown.
The other seven were mounted for Queen Mary in a variety of settings.
The pear-shaped Cullinan III and the square-cut Cullinan IV were set on a platinum brooch, inherited by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
In 1958, she wore the brooch during a state visit to the Netherlands, when she was taken to the Asscher workshop and in 2012, she wore it to a Diamond Jubilee service of thanksgiving.
The late Queen was last pictured wearing the diamonds during a BBC documentary called The Coronation in 2018.