Person · British queen-empress
Queen Victoria
Also known as Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria, 24 May 1819 - 22 January 1901), Queen of the United Kingdom (1837-1901) and the first Empress of India (1876-1901). She received the Koh-i-Noor from the East India Company at Buckingham Palace on 3 July 1850 (the 250th anniversary of the Company's founding), displayed it at the 1851 Great Exhibition at Hyde Park, had it recut in 1852 by Mozes Coster's artisan Levie Voorzanger from 186 to 105.6 carats, and wore it as a brooch and in a circlet throughout her reign — though she wrote in the 1870s of her unease about Indian conquest and 'how I dislike wearing the Koh-i-Noor'. After her 1901 death the diamond passed through the crowns of Queen Alexandra (1902), Queen Mary (1911) and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (1937).
- Date
- 1819–1901
- Function
- Authority & administration
- Patron dynasty
- British monarchy
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Connections (1)
- Power passed toKoh-i-Noor
The Koh-i-Noor was formally presented to Queen Victoria on 3 July 1850 at Buckingham Palace by the deputy chairman of the East India Company. The date was chosen to coincide with the Company's 250th anniversary. The diamond was displayed at the 1851 Great Exhibition at Hyde Park where crowds found it disappointingly dull — Punch magazine called it 'the Mountain of Darkness'. On 17 July 1852 Prince Albert supervised the recut by Levie Benjamin Voorzanger of Mozes Coster's firm at Garrard & Co. in Haymarket; the 38-day recut reduced the diamond from 186 carats to 105.6 carats and cost £8,000. Victoria wore the recut stone as a brooch, though she wrote in the 1870s of her unease about Indian conquest and 'how I dislike wearing the Koh-i-Noor'. After her 1901 death the stone passed into the British Crown Jewels.
On these journeys
Sources
Standard biography.
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