Queen Elizabeth II's Hilarious Description of Royal Crown Resurfaces

A clip from a documentary shows Queen Elizabeth II grabbing the Imperial State Crown before commenting on how Henry V's style for wearing it was "a bit rash" has resurfaced.

The monarch said pearls on the priceless piece, part of the crown jewels, were "not very happy now" because "most pearls like to be sort of living creatures."

The queen was praised for her dry sense of humor after the BBC documentary The Coronation first aired in Britain in 2018.

A clip has reappeared on TikTok as King Charles III prepares for his own coronation on May 6.

In the video, host Alastair Bruce asked for the crown to be moved closer to the monarch, at which point an attendant in white gloves delicately slid it towards Elizabeth.

The queen then grabbed the crown with both hands and said, "This is what I do when I wear it," before spinning it round and asking: "Can I look at this end? I like the Black Prince's ruby."

The ruby had a hole drilled in it where, in the 15th century, Henry V would keep a feather.

"It's fun to see I think," Elizabeth said. "With the idea that his plume was put into the stone on his helmet. A bit rash but that was the sort of thing they did in those days I suppose."

The crown also features four pearls, including two that had been owned by Mary Queen of Scots, but were bought by Elizabeth I after Mary's execution, the narrator said.

"They were meant to be Queen Elizabeth's earrings," the queen said. "But they are not very happy now. They don't look very happy now.

"Most pearls like to be sort of living creatures. So they've just been hanging out here for years. It's rather sad. So they don't look very happy."

"The trouble is that pearls are sort of alive things," she added as she gave the crown a shake. "And they need warming."

One comment on the TikTok video read: "Mama knows the emotions of the pearls. Well damn!"

Another said simply, "Miss her," while a third read: "The aggressive second push made me lol."

The Imperial State Crown is not the one that will be placed on Charles' head during the coronation service at Westminster Abbey.

For the official ceremony, the rarely worn St. Edward's Crown, which was made for Charles II in 1661, is used.

The Imperial State Crown was made far more recently for George VI's coronation in 1937, which was attended by Elizabeth, then a child.

Charles will also be seen in the state crown on the day of the coronation. This crown is brought out far more frequently than the St. Edward's Crown, including for the annual State Opening of Parliament.

Elizabeth described in the same documentary the difficulties of giving her annual speech to Britain's lawmakers wearing such a heavy object: "You can't look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech up, because if you did your neck would break."

Experts have attempted to value the state crown at around between £3 billion (around $3.8 billion) to £5 billion (around $6.3 billion), Tatler reported.

Along with the rest of the crown jewels, it cannot legally be sold by the monarch and therefore attempts to place a value can only ever be based on guesswork.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.