Queen's Royal Diamonds In Jubilee Exhibition

More than 10,000 diamonds set in works owned by six monarchs over three centuries have gone on display at Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

The exhibition, Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration, includes a number of the Queen's personal jewels and works from the royal collection, chosen for their artistic significance and their historic importance.

Several pieces of jewellery, such as the Delhi Durbar Tiara, Queen Victoria's fringe brooch and the Kokoshnik Tiara, are being displayed for the first time.

The exhibition also includes jewellery made from the world's largest diamond, the Cullinan diamond, which weighed 3,106 carats as an uncut stone.

Pieces containing seven of the nine principal stones cut from the Cullinan diamond have been reunited for the first time, including the Cullinan III and IV Brooch worn by the Queen at the National Service of Thanksgiving for her Diamond Jubilee.

Among the displayed items to mark important events in her majesty's life is the South Africa necklace given to the Queen on her 21st birthday in 1947.

Exhibition curator Caroline de Guitaut said: ""There is a mixture of the Queen's jewels that she wears on a regular basis and also diamond covered works of art.

"In both instances, these show us how monarchs have deployed diamonds to give an aura of magnificence and an aura of sovereignty and show the wealth and power of our nation.

"Many of these objects have been in the royal collection for centuries and so they have been carefully preserved over the years.

"Some of the jewels have been altered as they've been handed down from monarch to monarch but they are all carefully cared for and we've made sure they have been mounted in a very beautiful way for our visitors to see.

"This year we are celebrating Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee and therefore this is a perfect opportunity to give visitors to Buckingham Palace a wonderful opportunity to see so many treasures."

The exhibition displays several pieces commissioned by Queen Victoria, the only other monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee.

This includes a coronation necklace worn by Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth II at their coronations.

One of the highlights of the display is the miniature crown worn by Queen Victoria for her official Diamond Jubilee portrait in 1897 which contains 1,187 diamonds.

The exhibition forms part of the summer opening of Buckingham Palace and will run until July 8 and from July 31 to October 7.