Wearing a crown is the privilege that comes with being the Queen, but according to the 91-year-old monarch, the extravagant headpiece is far more dangerous that it looks. Her Majesty gave a rare insight into her life as head of state in upcoming BBC documentary The Coronation, set to air on Sunday night on BBC One. The Queen showed her wicked sense of humour by joking that you can't look down while wearing the Imperial State Crown – which weighs a staggering 1.28 kg. While chatting to BBC Royal Commentator Alastair Bruce about it, she said: "You can't look down to read the speech you have to take the speech up. Because if you did your neck would break, it would fall off. So there are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise they're quite important things.'"
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The Queen revealed that wearing a crown can be 'dangerous'
The documentary centres around the Queen's coronation in 1953, and takes a look in detail at the Imperial State Crown, which was made for George VI's coronation in 1937. Her Majesty observed: "Fortunately, my father and I have about the same sort of shaped head. But once you put it on, it stays. I mean, it just remains on.'" The design is set with 2,868 diamonds including 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and hundreds of pearls, including four known as Queen Elizabeth I's earrings. It also features a gemstone known as the Black Prince's Ruby.
Her Majesty chatted about her coronation with BBC Royal Commentator Alastair Bruce
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The British monarch joked that Elizabeth's pearls were "not very happy now'' and had been "hanging out for years'', adding: "I mean, the trouble is that pearls are sort of live things and they need, and they need warming.'' The Queen also recounted the day of her coronation, and how she was brought to a halt when her robes ran against the carpet pile in Westminster Abbey. She said: "Well, I remember one moment when I was going against the pile of the carpet and I couldn't move at all."