A JEWEL PURPOSE
Clive Myrie talks to SARA WALLIS about his documentary on the fascinating history of Britain’s royal treasures
WAR correspondent Clive Myrie had never felt much connection to the Crown Jewels, a symbol of the British monarchy, until he noticed a striking poster on a Tube journey.
Its image showed a young boy looking at the Imperial State Crown.
Mastermind host Clive says of the moment, just before the first lockdown: “I remember just seeing the crown and this little black kid next to it. It was an ad to go and see the jewels at the Tower of London.
“I thought it was interesting that they decided to use a person of colour. They were trying to get across this idea that they’re for everybody.”
The 57-year-old, who has won plaudits for his reporting from Ukraine, adds: “Growing up in Bolton, Lancashire, the monarchy and the idea of a Royal Family were not at the forefront of my mind.”
When Clive was asked to investigate the history of the Crown Jewels as part of the BBC’s Jubilee programming, he thought that seeing the poster must have been a sign. His parents, who came to England from Jamaica, have always had a fondness for the Royal Family.
His mother Lynne Myrie, was a teacher in Jamaica in the 1950s. She led a party of schoolchildren to meet the Queen.
“My parents were part of that Windrush generation where the narrative was that England was a place you could go to make a decent living, bring your kids up, that you would be welcome and you would be helping the Empire. So there has always been a reverence for the monarchy.
“They were chuffed that I was a part of the BBC commentary team for the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral and now involved with this documentary.”
Clive was blown away by getting up close to the Crown Jewels.
The collection includes 13 crowns and nearly 24,000 gemstones, including sapphires, rubies and diamonds, collected over the centuries from across the globe.
He says: “I wanted to find out what they really tell us about ourselves and our past. It is a complicated history but it’s one illuminated by some of the most beautiful jewels on the planet.”
Allowed unprecedented access, the BBC team used cutting-edge technology to explore the jewels in detail.
Clive says: “We’ve managed to bring that pinpoint accuracy and in-depth look to the stones.”
The jewels are, of course, beyond valuation. Historian Alistair Bruce says:
“Calling it priceless is sensible, but you could just add as many zeros as there are diamonds in the collection.”
Clive says: “If you’re seeing them for the first time, they’re designed to shock and awe.”
In the documentary, Clive also goes on the trail of the Scottish Crown Jewels, properly known as The Honours of Scotland.
The crown, the sword and sceptre date back to James V’s reign in 1540. Clive visits Dunnottar Castle, the last place to hold out against Oliver Cromwell’s army, where the Honours were kept. He says: “It’s a beautiful story of how they managed to keep them away from the grubby mitts of Cromwell. They were lowered out of a window, wrapped in hessian, to a local woman collecting seaweed, put in a basket and hidden in a church pulpit for nine years. It meant that Cromwell wasn’t able to snuff out that sense of rebellion. He couldn’t melt down those symbols.”