Queen Consort urged not to wear Cullinan diamond during South Africa state visit

It is the largest rough-cut diamond ever found, mined in South Africa in 1905 before being presented to King Edward VII as a gesture of friendship and loyalty.

However, the Queen Consort has been urged not to wear the Cullinan diamond during next week’s state visit by Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African president, amid calls for it to be returned to the nation.

Zwelinzima Vavi, one of South Africa’s best known trade unionists whose father worked in the gold mining industry during the height of apartheid, said that if the diamond was worn by either the Queen Consort or the Princess of Wales it would be a "most unfortunate" reminder of the colonial era’s past.

Members of the Royal family traditionally wear jewellery that honours the UK’s relationship with the nation of their hosts or visitors.

Queen Elizabeth II is said to have been aware that her jewellery "could often speak louder than words" and used it to send messages of friendship.

In October 2018, she wore the Cullinan diamonds for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace during a visit by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.

The choice was considered a nod to the fact that the diamonds had been cut in Amsterdam.

But the Queen’s death prompted an online petition in South Africa that has attracted almost 8,000 signatures, calling for the diamond to be returned and placed in a South African museum.

'Spitting in the face of South Africans'

Mr Vavi said that if they were worn next week it would "be like spitting in the face of South Africans".

He added: "It would be most unfortunate and would be flaunting the history of Cecil John Rhodes in our faces and, of course, the colonial era's mining industry - a period where the minerals and the land were taken from us which we then had to fight for."

Susan Booysen, one of South Africa’s best known political analysts, said it was "hard to imagine" the diamond would be worn.

"Given South Africa’s history and the effects of the colonial period, especially within the mining industry, this would, I am sure, shock Mr Ramaphosa and many South Africans," she said. "Surely, surely this would not happen."

Buckingham Palace has not revealed which pieces of jewellery will be worn by members of the Royal family during Tuesday’s state banquet.

During their two-day visit, Mr Ramaphosa and his wife, Dr Tshepo Motsepe, will view an exhibition of items from the Royal Collection relating to South Africa, likely to include medals presented to the late Queen by Nelson Mandela.

The display may also include items relating to the then Princess Elizabeth’s tour of southern Africa with her family in 1947, when she delivered a historic speech on her 21st birthday declaring: "My whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service".

The Princess was presented with a birthday gift of 21 large South African diamonds, which she referred to as "my best diamonds".

The 3,106 carat uncut Cullinan diamond was discovered at the Premier Mine near Pretoria, South Africa, in January 1905.

When it was taken to the mine manager’s office, the clerks threw it out the window, unable to believe that something so big was a diamond. Eventually persuaded, it was named after Thomas Cullinan, the owner of the mine.

It was shipped to London for inspection by Edward VII, but despite considerable interest, attempts to sell it failed as no one could understand how a stone so big could possibly be cut.

Eventually, the prime minister of the Transvaal province suggested that his government purchase the diamond and present it to the King as a token of loyalty.

The diamond was cut by Asscher & Co in the Netherlands in 1908.

The first blow broke the knife, but a second split the rock in two. It then took more than eight months of grinding and polishing to split the two large pieces into nine stones, 96 small brilliants and nine carats of unpolished fragments.

In 1909, the two largest gems were formally presented to the King at Windsor Castle.

They remain the two largest colourless and flawless cut diamonds in the world and are set at the head of the Sovereign’s Sceptre and into the Imperial State Crown.

The other seven were mounted by the jewellers Garrard and Carrington for Queen Mary in a variety of settings.

The pear-shaped Cullinan III and the square-cut Cullinan IV were set onto a platinum brooch, inherited by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

In 1958, she wore the brooch during a state visit to the Netherlands, when she was taken to the Asscher workshop in Amsterdam. In 2012, she wore it to a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

The late Queen was last pictured wearing the diamonds during a BBC documentary called The Coronation in 2018.