British Queen to put royal diamonds on display for 60th anniversary

Jan 2, 2012, 11:31 GMT

London - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will mark her 60th anniversary on the throne this year with a public exhibition of some of her diamonds and crown jewels, Buckingham Palace said Monday.

The royal collection will go on display this summer at Buckingham Palace, and show some 200-years' worth of precious gems and some of the monarch's personal jewellery.

They include historic diadems, necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

The show will be open from August to September, with tickets already available over the internet.

Among the items on show will be the 'Girls of Great Britain' tiara which the queen wore at a state banquet for the Turkish president in November.

It was a wedding present to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, later Queen Mary - the Queen's grandmother - on behalf of the girls of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1893.

It is one of the queen's favourites and known as 'Granny's tiara,' being a wedding present from her grandmother in 1947.

Many of the items that will be on display have been changed over the years - having been re-cut or used in new settings depending on the fashion or the preferences of the queens or princesses.

Visitors will also see the necklace and earrings worn by the queen at her own coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey in 1953.

Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952, but the coronation ceremony was the following year.