French Crown Jewels

The Crown of Charlemagne from 1271, used as the French coronation crown from 875 or 1590 to 1775.

Procession of Louis XV after his coronation in Notre-Dame de Reims, traditional location of the coronations of Kings of France.

The Crown of Napoleon created in 1804, Louvre.

Crown of the Dauphin, Louis Antoine, worn at the coronation of Charles X in 1825.

The Crown jewels comprise the instruments of the coronation, called the Regalia, and the jewels of the ruling family.

Since Pepin the Short in 752, the accession of the King of France was legitimated by a coronation ceremony called a sacre, since the emphasis was on the unction with the chrism of the Holy Ampulla, performed for the first time at Notre-Dame de Reims in 816 for Louis the Pious, then with the Crown of Charlemagne. From 888 to 922, then 1027, all monarchs were crowned until the French Revolution, in the Notre-Dame de Reims cathedral (apart from Louis VI and Henry IV, who were crowned in Orléans and Chartres). After the revolution, only Emperor Napoleon, Empress Joséphine and King Charles X were crowned. Though not always used, a set of expensive crown jewels did exist and was augmented by various monarchs.

The Crown Jewels or Diamants de la Couronne de France, consisting of gemstones and jewellery,[1] became unalienable by decision of Francis I on June 15, 1530. The Côte-de-Bretagne red spinel was then among the 8 main jewels. They suffered important loss by the Catholic League in 1590 but were reconstituted by Henry IV and greatly enhanced by Louis XIV, notably with the gift of the 18 Mazarin diamonds and the purchase of the 'Royal French Blue' and 'Ruspoli' sapphire, later followed in 1717 with the Regent Diamond. Under Louis XV, they were kept in the Garde Meuble de la Couronne (Royal Treasury) in one of the pavilions of the Place de la Concorde, where they suffered a theft in 1792 and a sale in 1795 after their partial recovery. In 1814, Napoleon had restored the crown jewels to 65,072 stones and pearls, not including the personal jewels of both Empress Joséphine and Empress Marie Louise. Enhanced during the Restoration and again during the Second Empire, they counted 77,662 stones and pearls, comprising 51,403 brilliant cut diamonds, 21,119 rose cut diamonds, 2962 pearls, 507 rubies, 136 sapphires, 250 emeralds, 528 turquoises, 22 opals, 235 amethysts and 500 other stones, when they were sold in 1885 by the Third Republic. Nevertheless, as in 1793, an important set of stones and pearls was sent to the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle and some of the most important jewels were bought back since 1953, which makes the collection still number more than 11,000 stones and pearls.[2]

The Regalia,[3] much lightly hit in 1590, were originally kept in the treasure of the Basilica of Saint Denis[4] from where they were removed in 1793 during the French Revolution. Some few pieces of the treasure, considered to present an artistic value, were preserved and sent to the Louvre, which sold 9 of them in 1798, the National Library, the Natural History Museum, and the archbishops of Rouen (5 items) and Paris. The others, were sold in 1793 like the chalice and two cruets of Saint Denis, or dismantled and melted down in April 1794, like the Crown of Charlemagne and the ones of Saint Louis[5][6] and the Queens,[7] with the rest of the basilica treasure including the cross of Saint Eligius, the screen of Charlemagne, the gilded altar of Charles the Bald or the large reliquaries. The liturgical instruments kept in Reims suffered the same policy. The Regalia were restored or recreated for the coronation of Napoleon, which at their turn suffered again partial destruction in 1819, and finally completed for the coronation of Charles X in 1825.

Some gemstones and jewels are on display in the Treasury vault of the Mineralogy gallery in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. They include the 51.60-carat (10.320 g) Emerald of Saint Louis,[40] the 135.80-carat (27.160 g) 'Ruspoli' sapphire[41] the Topaze (28.10 carats) and great Emerald (17 carats) of Louis XIV, the diamond pins of Queen Marie Antoinette, the Diamond-portrait (9.10 carats) and the Amethyst of Empress Marie Louise, the great Opal of Louis XVIII, the bicolor Sapphire (19.67 carats), the Jonquille diamond (9.75 carats) and more than 800 pearls and stones. Furthermore, a set of 1 044 stones and pearls is kept at the École des Mines in Paris.

"Throne of Dagobert", traditionally attributed to Dagobert I, while the arms and the back of the chair were added under Charles the Bald. Cabinet des Medailles.

Cup of the Ptolemies, 1st century BC or AD Cabinet des Medailles.

The Throne of Dagobert coming from Saint Denis can now be seen on the Richelieu site of the National Library of France. The Cup of the Ptolemies was used by the queens to take ablution after holy communion. This masterpieces among hardstone carvings or engraved gems of Antiquity,[42] was carved with Dionysiac vignettes and emblems, probably in Alexandria during the 1st century BC or the 1st century AD. It was stolen in 1804, and recovered without its Carolingian gem-studded gold mountings. Its serpentine paten is at the Louvre.

The original Holy Ampulla in its relic receptacle

The Chalice of Saint Remi, 12th c., at the Palace of Tau, Reims.

Some of the sovereign's robes of the coronation of Charles X and regalia specially made by Feuchère for this event including the gilt-bronze Crown of Charles X (his coronation crown was destroyed by the Third Republic) and the Crown of Queen Marie Thérèse of Savoy are displayed in one of the chapels of the nave of the Basilica of Saint Denis with the funerary Regalia of king Louis XVIII (sceptre, hand of justice and copy of the sword and scabbard of Charlemagne).[43][44] The Crown of the Dauphin Louis Antoine Duke of Angoulême which subsists as well counts too among the six only surviving French crowns.

The Talisman of Charlemagne, 9th c., also a reliquary, found on his body when his tomb was opened

The Holy Ampulla reconstituted with some recovered fragments of the original chrism for the coronation of Charles X[45][46] in 1825, which was originally kept in the Abbey of Saint Remi, is now presented in the Palace of Tau next to the cathedral Notre-Dame de Reims with the coronation Chalice as well as several preserved sovereign's robes and gowns of kings of the Ancien Régime and the liturgical instruments made for the coronation of Charles X. They are displayed with the few remaining pieces of the medieval treasure of the cathedral and the Talisman of Charlemagne, a large sapphire said to have been given by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid which was found in the Emperor's grave in 1804 and later offered by Empress Eugenie. Since 1906, the content of the Holy Ampulla is kept in Reims archbishopric.[47]

Tavernier's original sketch of the diamond which became the Royal French Blue.

Gouache of the great Golden Fleece [including the "Royal French Blue"] of king Louis XV of France, version 1 of 2008, painted by Pascal Monney (ca. 16 × 6 cm)

The Hope Diamond, which was cut from the Royal French Blue, part of the French Crown Jewels stolen in 1792.

The Crown Jewels were stolen in 1792 when the Garde Meuble (Royal Treasury) was stormed by rioters. Most, though not all, of the Crown Jewels were recovered eventually. Sancy Diamond was found in Russia at Vasily Rudanovsky collection. The Royal French Blue is believed to have been recut, and it is now known as the Hope Diamond.

The Hope is famously alleged to have been surrounded by bad luck. Marie Antoinette who supposedly wore it was beheaded (in fact, it was actually worn by her husband, Louis XVI, although he too was beheaded). Other owners and their families experienced suicides, marriage break-ups, bankruptcy, deaths in car crashes, falls off cliffs, revolutions, mental breakdowns, and deaths through drug overdoses. It was even tangentially associated with the case of the murdered Lindbergh baby, when its then owner, silver heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean, pawned it to raise money that she ended up paying to a con-man unconnected with the actual kidnapping. Most modern historians view the tales of a curse on the Hope to be spurious; the first mention of such tales is documented to 1908. Pierre Cartier, the Parisian jeweler, is widely credited with publicizing the stories of a curse on the diamond in hopes of increasing its saleability. Since 1958, it has been in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where it is the single most-viewed object in the Smithsonian's collection.

The Crown Jewels were augmented by jewels added by Napoleon I and Napoleon III.

The last French coronation occurred in 1825 when King Charles X was crowned at Reims. The scale of the coronation was seen by critics to indicate a return to the absolutism of the Ancien Régime that had been ended by the Revolution of 1789. Some historians suggest that the very grandeur of the ceremony marked the beginning of the end for the Bourbon monarchy, with Charles's image as an old style monarch falling out of favour with the French public, who had much preferred the low-key monarchy of his brother, Louis XVIII. Louis Philippe I, the last French king, was not crowned, and neither was Napoleon III, the last Emperor. Napoleon III's consort, Eugénie de Montijo, did have a crown made for her, though it was never used in an official coronation.

Sapphire set of Queen Marie Amélie bought back by the Louvre in 1985.

During the late 18th and 19th centuries the jewels survived the French First Republic, the Directorate, the First Empire, the Restoration, the July Monarchy, the French Second Republic and the Second Empire. However, the decision of Henri, Comte de Chambord not to accept the French Crown in the early 1870s ended not just the prospect of a royal restoration. It also led to the break-up and partial sale of the Crown Jewels. The Brazilian beauty Aimée de Heeren,[48] WW2 secret service agent for President Getúlio Vargas was known for being the largest private owner of the French Crown jewels, along with other important jewelry. The jewels were presents from Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster who bought whatever he could find between the years 1939 and 1953.

In 1875, the French Third Republic came into being with the passage of a series of Constitutional Laws. The interim presidency was replaced by a full "President of the Republic".

While few expected a royal restoration, certainly after the failure of the Seize Mai attempted royalist coup by the Marshal Patrice de MacMahon, sitting President of the French Republic, the continuing agitation of extreme right-wing royalists, and the fear of a royalist coup d'état, led radical deputies to propose the sale of the Crown Jewels, in the hope that their dispersal would undermine the royalist cause: "Without a crown, no need for a king" in the words of one member of the National Assembly. This controversial decision was implemented. All the jewels from the Crown Jewels were removed and sold in 1887, as were many of the crowns, diadems, rings and other items. Only a few of the crowns were kept for historic reasons, but with their original diamonds and gems replaced by colored glass. Some historic or unusual gems went to French museums, including the Regent Diamond, the Hortensia diamond, and the corsage brooch containing some of the 'Mazarin diamonds', all of which now reside in the Louvre;[49] and the 'Ruspoli' sapphire, which is now in the French Natural History Museum (curators took advantage of its unusual rhombohedral faceted shape and asked for it to be exempted from the sale, falsely claiming that it was a natural, uncut crystal).

• Treasury of Saint-Denis
• Regalia