Romancing the Stone: Victoria, Albert, and the Koh-i-Noor Diamond

In 1850, an eleven-year-old Indian prince named Duleep Singh was ordered to complete a fraught diplomatic task: his mission was to present Queen Victoria with the famed Koh-i-Noor diamond in a contrived spectacle to show Indian submission to British rule. The history of the diamond in England reveal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:West 86th 2017-03, Vol.24 (1), p.29-46
Main Author: Shah, Siddhartha V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria of Great Britain (1819-61)
Artistic representation (Imitation)
British culture
Colonialism
Diamonds
Diplomatic & consular services
Femininity
Queens
Symbolism
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain (1819-1901)
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Summary:In 1850, an eleven-year-old Indian prince named Duleep Singh was ordered to complete a fraught diplomatic task: his mission was to present Queen Victoria with the famed Koh-i-Noor diamond in a contrived spectacle to show Indian submission to British rule. The history of the diamond in England reveals the malleability of the jewel as a symbol of Oriental excess and economic gains through colonial domination, and as an ornament to accentuate Queen Victoria's femininity while affirming Prince Albert's masculine identity. This article examines the display and treatment by the British of the Koh-i-Noor diamond with an emphasis on the feminization of the jewel, the Indian subcontinent, and Queen Victoria herself.
ISSN:2153-5531
2153-5558
DOI:10.1086/693797