Queen Camilla Faces Backlash Over Choice Of Ivory Sceptre At Coronation Next Month

While King Charles has taken pains to ensure he is seen as a very modern monarch ahead of his Coronation next month, it seems there are some occasions when tradition must still take precedence over 2023 sensibilities.

His wife, Queen Camilla – who will be crowned alongside Charles on May 6 in London – has already dodged one potential controversy with her choice of crown. Camilla has eschewed both the perceived extravagance of having a new crown made, and dodged the dubious history of Queen Elizabeth’s crown worn in 1937, complete with the Koh-i-noor diamond, with its ties to the history of Britain’s colonial rule of India. Instead, she’s plumped for the much less controversial choice of the crown first worn by Queen Mary, consort of George V, the incoming King’s great-grandfather.

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However, Camilla risks a separate backlash for her decision to carry the rod with dove, along with the orb, held by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

With her husband’s previous oft-expressed criticism of the ivory trade, it was widely expected that the rod, made of ivory, would be shelved at next month’s ceremony.

But Palace sources have confirmed to The Times that the new Queen will be brandishing the three foot-long sceptre, originally made for Mary of Modena in 1685.

With both the new King and both his sons’ concern at danger to wildlife around the world well known, eyebrows will certainly be raised when Camilla is presented with the sceptre at the coronation in London’s Westminster Abbey, however, a Palace spokesperson told The Times that a Crown Jewel collection of the size held by the British royals would inevitably include gems belonging to a previous era.

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