Prince Charles Caused Chaos at Queen Elizabeth's Coronation

• Prince Charles caused quite a stir (opens in new tab) at the coronation of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953.
• Lady Anne Glenconner, one of the Queen's attendants for the occasion, recalled the then 4-year-old Charles' interest in the Queen's crown (opens in new tab).
• Charles "got his paws on" the crown, she recalled. "And we thought he was going to drop it."

Kids will be kids, heirs to the English throne or no, and often that means gravitating to the most expensive thing in the room, seizing it with their tiny toddler hands, and allowing it to shatter into oblivion about 0.02 seconds later. Which almost happened to Queen Elizabeth's crown on the the day of her coronation on June 2, 1953, courtesy of a then 4-year-old Prince Charles.

Lady Anne Glenconner, an attendant to the Queen for the occasion, reflected on the chaos during an appearance on podcast My Life in Seven Charms with jeweler Annoushka Ducas. Charles "got his paws on" the Imperial State Crown, which happens to feature almost 3,000 diamonds alongside rubies, pearls, sapphires, and emeralds, Lady Glenconner said.

"[The Queen] took it off, put it on a table and Prince Charles made a beeline for it," the former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret recalled, as People reports (opens in new tab). "And we thought he was going to drop it. We thought, 'Oh my goodness, that would be a bad omen.' But luckily, I think my mother, as a lady-in-waiting, seized it from him and took it away."

Prince Charles had plenty of opportunity to take a shine to the giant crown, as the then-future Queen Elizabeth practiced wearing it before the big day, Lady Glenconner shared. "She used to wear it when she was writing letters," she said. "I think Prince Charles says he remembers going in and seeing her wearing it. And asked her why she’s wearing it. And she said she was practicing." Which is sensible, considering it weighs about 3lbs!