Each year between August & September, Queen Elizabeth II opens her Buckingham Palace home to the public. This year, with the Diamond Jubilee, the London 2012 Olympics, and the on-going buzz around Wills & Kate, the monarchy’s popularity is certainly on the rise, and inquisitive visitors are expected to come flooding into the stately rooms of the Royal Palace.
To mark this special year, the opening of Buckingham Palace will also be showcasing a Diamond Exhibition. ‘Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration’, examines the many different ways in which diamonds have been used, re-cut or incorporated into new settings by British monarchs over the past 200 years. There are a large number of the Queen’s personal jewels on show, including jewellery made from the largest diamond ever found, the Cullinan Diamond, which weighed 3,106 carats in its rough state when it was discovered at the Premier Mine near Pretoria, South Africa, in 1905. Visitors have the chance to see these incredible diamonds up close, as well as having the opportunity to stroll through the nineteen stately rooms of the palace.
