
Llywelyn's coronet ( cy, Talaith Llywelyn) is a lost treasure of
Welsh history
The history of what is now Wales () begins with evidence of a Neanderthal presence from at least 230,000 years ago, while ''Homo sapiens'' arrived by about 31,000 BC. However, continuous habitation by modern humans dates from the period after ...
. It is recorded that
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd,
Prince of Wales and
Lord of Aberffraw had deposited this crown ( cy, Talaith) and other items (such as the
Cross of Neith
The Cross of Neith (Welsh ''Y Groes Naid'' or ''Y Groes Nawdd'') was a sacred relic believed to be a fragment of the True Cross that had been kept at Aberconwy by the kings and princes of Gwynedd, members of the Aberffraw dynasty who established ...
) with the monks at
Cymer Abbey for safekeeping at the start of his final campaign in 1282. He was killed later that year. It was seized alongside other holy artefacts in 1284 from the ruins of the defeated
Kingdom of Gwynedd. Thereafter it was taken to London and presented at the shrine of
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
in
Westminster Abbey by King
Edward I of England as a token of the complete annihilation of the independent Welsh state.

Llywelyn's successor was his brother,
Dafydd, who claimed Llywelyn's title of
Tywysog as ''Tywysog Cymru'' or
Prince of Wales. His reign was extremely brief; he was killed not long after his brother, without ever having been able to reclaim the precious items from Cymer Abbey.
Dating the crown
The origins of the coronet are unclear. Some sources state that
Dafydd ap Llywelyn had been presented with a coronet by
Henry III of England on his accession to the throne of Gwynedd in 1240.
However, on the occasion of their first meeting Dafydd is described as already wearing a coronet.
[ Rees Davies believes that there were several coronets and among those seized in 1282 was the "Coron Arthur", an older native Welsh treasure, that may have been forged as far back as the reign of Owain Gwynedd (1137–1171) or perhaps earlier, as the princes of Gwynedd sought to consolidate their position as the primary rulers of Wales.
:He (Edward) appropriated the most valuable and potent symbols of Welsh princely independence – Llywelyn's coronet, the matrix of his seal, the jewels and crown of Arthur, and above all the most cherished relic in Wales, the piece of the true cross known as Y Groes Naid (just as he removed the Stone of Scone from Scotland in 1296).
:R.R. Davies][ ]
There is some confusion as to whether Llywelyn's coronet is what was referred to by some chroniclers as the "crown" or "jewel" of Arthur or if this was a separate more treasured artefact.
After annexation by England
According to King Edward I's jewel account for that regnal year (12 Edward I), the crown was recoated in gold plating to make it look more impressive (which suggests that it may have been made of iron). It was then presented at the shrine of Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
in Westminster Abbey as the "Coron Arthur," or the Crown of King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
. The coronet, alongside the English Crown Jewels, was kept in Westminster Abbey until 1303 before they were all re-housed in the Tower of London after it and the English Crown Jewels were all temporarily stolen. It is widely thought that Llywelyn's Coronet was destroyed alongside most of the original English crown jewels in 1649 by order of Oliver Cromwell; however, an inventory taken by the new republican administration prior to the destruction of the crown jewels makes no mention of this coronet.
Coronet of Owain Glyndŵr and later reconstructions
Mystery surrounds the identity and whereabouts of a possible second Welsh crown, the crown of Owain Glyndŵr. Glyndŵr was crowned in 1404 at the Welsh parliament or ''Cynulliad'' held at Machynlleth, but it is not known with which crown. It is possible that this was either another pre-conquest dynastic coronet, similar to Llywelyn's, and potentially the crown of the Kings of Powys known as the ''Crown of Elisig''. Alternatively, it could have been one that was made specifically for the occasion. Another possibility is that Llywelyn's crown, which had been stolen in 1303 alongside the English Crown Jewels, had not been returned with the rest of them, and thus escaped destruction by Cromwell. If it is true, then this crown would probably have been "lost" at the fall of Harlech Castle in 1409 or may be still hidden in Glyndŵr's undiscovered final resting place.
British Prince of Wales regalia
In more recent times reconstructed Welsh regalia known as the Honours of the Principality of Wales have been cast for symbolic use during the investiture ceremony of the eldest son of the King of England
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...
. The design of these coronets, established in 1672 by King Charles II of England
Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.
Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...
, features "Crosses and flowers de Liz with one Arch and in the midst a Ball and cross". The coronet made in 1911 for the investiture of the future King Edward VIII as Prince of Wales strictly adheres to the style clarified in the 1672 royal warrant. The version created in 1969 for the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales (the 1911 Crown was still in the possession of the Duke of Windsor in France) has deviated from the classic designs and was made using modern methods. Both coronets are now kept at the National Museum Cardiff.
References
{{reflist, 2
Further reading
* Calendar of Welsh Rolls, 273-4
Medieval Wales
Regalia