Princes Charles news: The quest for the Royal Crown jewels
PRINCE CHARLES paid a visit this week to a site which was once a refuge for the Royal Crown jewels during a time of intense political instability.
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This week, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall made a series of visits while in Aberdeen, as part of a week of royal engagements in Scotland. The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay (as the pair are known in Scotland) made a visit to Dunnottar Castle on October 2, a site with an incredibly significant history for the Royal Family.
As reported by Royal Central, although the site is now ruins, the Castle has a rich history linking the grounds to the period of Civil War in the 17th century.
At the time, Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, overseeing the period between 1649 and 1660 when the monarchy was overthrown in favour of a republic.
In 1649, King Charles I had been beheaded, the culmination of political conflict between the royalists and the parliamentarians during the English Civil War.
However, when Charles II, the eldest surviving son of the late Charles I, was crowned in 1651 with the Scottish Crown Jewels at Stone Castle, Oliver Cromwell sent his armies to capture the new king.
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Cromwell’s army laid siege to Dunnottar Castle, and it survived for eight months.
However, when heavy cannons arrived in 1652, surrender was soon made.
The Honours of Scotland, the Scottish Crown Jewels, were being held in the castle for their safekeeping during this time of political upheaval.
The jewels were an integral symbol of Scottish nationhood, and was singled-out and targeted by Oliver Cromwell.
However, before the surrender of the Castle, the jewels had been smuggled out and taken to Kinneff Church.
The precious jewels were kept at the Church until the monarchy was restored in 1660.
According to reports from the Scotsman, the jewels were smuggled out by six women.
The jewels featured the Crown, sword and sceptre, thought to be the oldest Royal Regalia in Britain.
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Reportedly, the jewels were carried out in sacks of wool and carried to Aberdeenshire through Cromwell-occupied territory.
In 1660, arrangements were made so Charles II could be invited back from exile to be King of England, Scotland and Ireland.
In the aftermath of the new king’s coronation, the body of Oliver Cromwell was exhumed from Westminster Abbey in 1661, and subjected to posthumous execution.
Cromwell’s head was cut off, and displayed on a pike outside Westminster Hall, where it remained until 1685.
As for the Honours of Scotland, they have not been used in a coronation since the crowning of Charles II at Scone Castle in 1651.
The jewels are now on public display in the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle, where they have been since 1819.
The Stone of Scone was also added to the collection in 1996, after being displayed in Westminster Abbey for 700 years.