King Charles III to inherit ‘cursed’ royal crown that brings its owner ‘misfortune’

The Crown of the Queen Mother contains the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, which weighs more than 100 carats and carries with it a bloody history – not to mentioned rumoured bad luck

A crown once made for the late Queen Mother to wear at her coronation alongside her husband George VI in 1937 contains a gem that is allegedly cursed.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8 the newly proclaimed King Charles III is due to inherit the same Crown of the Queen Mother, as it known.

The bedazzling headwear is one of many such objects owned by the monarchy as part of the Crown Jewels, including the Imperial State Crown that was placed on top of the Queen’s coffin during her lying-in-state in Westminster Hall.

However, the crown from 1937 is encrusted with the Koh-i-Noor Diamond – one of the largest cut precious stones in the world and said to carry a deadly curse.

According to ancient Hindu legend, men who wear it “will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes,” reports the Daily Star.

The history of the Koh-i-Noor, which measures more around 105 carats and translates as ‘Mountain of Light’, is a controversial one.

In 1628, Mughal ruler Shah Jahan commissioned a throne encrusted with gemstones that took seven years to complete and cost four times as much as the Taj Mahal.

The shining Koh-i-Noor was a placed at the head of the Peacock Throne.

It remained in Mughal hands for more than a century until Persian forces invaded India in 1739, killing thousands of people in bloody battles, and the diamond was stolen.

Iranian ruler Nader Shah held on to it until he was assassinated by his own men.

The precious item changed hands between various leaders across Asia, including a king who allegedly blinded his own son, until in it ended up back in India with a five-year-old emperor named Maharaja Duleep Singh in the 1840s.

The British were a growing presence in the country by then and eventually forced Singh to hand over the diamond where it was sent over to England and displayed in the Great Exhibition of 1851.

People were reportedly disappointed by its dull appearance and Prince Albert had it recut and polished to around half its original size for Queen Victoria.

Rumours that the Koh-i-Noor was cursed and full of misfortune for its owner began to spread, including its spirit being saturated by the bloodshed it was part of.

Victoria wore it as brooch before it found its way into the Crown of Queen Alexandra in 1902 and then Queen Mary’s in 1911 before its latest slot as part of the Queen Mother’s coronation regalia.

Until this year, the gem was last seen in public in 2002 when it was perched on top of the latter’s coffin.

India has long requested that the Koh-i-Noor be returned from the UK and Queen Elizabeth II’s death has reignited the issue.

In September a petition to send it back was started by an Indian businessman and aimed to gather one million signatures.

In 2013, the then prime minister David Cameron refuted the idea that the UK should return the diamond back to apologise colonising India.