Hard-core royalists in Jamaica would have been up by 1:30 a.m. yesterday to watch coverage of the prolonged build-up to the coronation of King Charles III. Two hours and forty-five minutes later, it was time for the main event. Royalists must have revelled in the pomp and ceremony. There was the dazzling regalia: the silver maces carried before the king; the Swords of State, Temporal Justice, Spiritual Justice and Mercy; the Sovereign’s Ring made of a sapphire with a ruby cross set in diamonds; and the golden sceptres.

Most of all, the crowns! King Charles donned the St Edwards with its solid gold frame, decorated with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, topazes and tourmalines. The Queen Consort flaunted the resplendent Crown of Queen Mary. It should have been blinging with the infamous Kohinoor diamond. But the Indian government objected. Displaying the jewel would revive disturbing memories of British conquest.

Mined in…