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Comedian Zarna Garg urges Queen Elizabeth to return the ‘cursed’ Kohinoor diamond to India.
Queen Elizabeth II contracted COVID-19, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle split from the Royal Family and Prince Andrew is in exile after settling his civil sex abuse case.
It might seem like an average day for British Royal Family but others have attributed it to curse of the Kohinoor diamond, which was acquired during Britain’s “benevolent rule” of India in 1849.
Indian American comedian Zarna Garg perhaps best summarised the curse with a tongue-in-cheek Instagram video.
“Have you read the news? The Kohinoor diamond is cursed! The Queen only has to mention that someone will be wearing it and the entire family caught the plague,” Ms Garg said in the clip.
“I have a solution, return the diamond, the Kohinoor diamond, to its rightful owners Mother India. What more proof do you need? Prince Andrew is a pariah. Shame, shame. Meghan and Harry have fled the country. Return the diamond or risk losing the monarchy!”
The Kohinoor sits in the Crown of the Queen Mother and has been in the British Royal Family since the annexation of Punjab, which spans modern-day India and Pakistan, in 1849. Photo: Public Domain.
A number of Indian publications also brought up the Kohinoor curse when it was announced the Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall contracted COVID-19.
The positive tests came after the Queen announced Camilla would receive the Kohinoor when Prince Charles becomes king.
Coincidence? Perhaps not.
Part of the British Crown Jewels, the Kohinoor diamond is set in the crown of The Queen Mother and weighs 106.6 carats, making it one of the largest cut diamonds in the world.
While the Kohinoor currently resides in the Tower of London with the rest of the Crown Jewels, it has a bloody history that dates back 800 years.
It is rumoured that the Kohinoor diamond weighed 793 carats when it was discovered in the Kollur Mine in the modern state of Andhra Pradesh in India’s south-east in the 13th century.
Over the next 600 years, the diamond travelled through dynasties in modern-day India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran as a spoil of war following gruesome battles.
The Queen Mother (left) wears her crown, which includes the Kohinoor diamond, as a young Queen Elizabeth II stands next to her (second from left). Photo: Fox Photos via Getty Images.
After stints in the Persian and Afghan empires, the diamond eventually found its way back to the state of Punjab, which is part of both Pakistan and India, in the hands of the Sikh Empire in 1813.
Following the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, Punjab was annexed to the British East India Company, at which point the Kohinoor was surrendered to Queen Victoria.
India, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan have all claimed ownership of the Kohinoor and demanded its return ever since India gained independence from the UK in 1947.
The diamond was 186 carats when it was taken by the British but the Royals cut it down to 105.6 carats after being disappointed by its appearance.
Interestingly, the Kohinoor has only been ever been worn by female members of the British Royal Family since it arrived in the UK in 1850.
This could be attributed to the Kohinoor curse, which has origins in an old Hindu text.
“He who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all of its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity,” the text reads.
Perhaps that’s why the Queen wants to give the Kohinoor to Camilla instead of Prince Charles.
After all, diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
