St. Edward's Crown — placed on the head of Elizabeth Windsor during her 1953 coronation — takes pride of place in the Tower of London's Crown Jewels. Crafted in 1661, it's been ogled in the flesh by an estimated 30 million people.
Due to its priceless nature, it's also uninsured (NOW all those Beefeaters make sense).
But if you were to make your own version of the crown from scratch, how much would it cost? Using, Dr. Roger Harding's book The Crown Jewels, the International Gem Society's gem size guide, the catalog of the Queen’s fabric supplier, and other reference materials, SavingSpot dissected the regal headpiece — pricing up what each individual piece would set you back today.
The costs vary wildly — from just £2.47 for the velvet cap, to £1.7m of sapphires. Turns out you'll need £3.6m — something that these recent lottery winners from Battersea could just about afford. Depending on how much is left over from the veterinary bills they paid towards their poorly cat.
