The St Edward’s Crown has been removed from the Tower of London to be resized for Britain's King Charles III, in the lead up to his coronation.
Buckingham Palace said the centre-piece of the Crown Jewels had been taken to allow for modification work to begin, before the ceremony on May 6.
The movement of the priceless crown was kept secret until it was safely delivered.
Versions of the St Edward’s Crown are thought to have been used at the coronations of British and English monarchs since the 13th century.
The current crown was made for King Charles II in 1661, as a replacement for the medieval crown that had been melted down in 1649.
The original was thought to date back to the 11th-century royal saint, Edward the Confessor, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.
It is St Edward’s Crown that appears on the royal coat of arms of the UK, the Royal Mail logo and badges of the Armed Forces.
“St Edward’s Crown, the historic centre-piece of the Crown Jewels, has been removed from the Tower of London to allow for modification work to begin ahead of the Coronation on Saturday May 6 2023," Buckingham Palace said on Saturday.
The coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey, eight months after the monarch’s accession and the death of the queen.
It is understood that the ceremony will include the same core elements of the traditional service, which has retained a similar structure for more than 1,000 years, while also recognising the spirit of our times.
King Charles’s coronation is expected to be on a smaller scale and shorter, with suggestions that it could last only an hour — compared to more than three in the past.
It is expected to be more inclusive of the UK's various faiths than past coronations, but will be an Anglican service.
Guest numbers will be reduced from 8,000 to about 2,000, with peers expected to wear suits and dresses instead of ceremonial robes. Some rituals, such as the presentation of gold ingots, will no longer be performed.
The Queen Consort is to be crowned alongside King Charles during the ceremony.
