Crown of Princess Blanche

The Crown of Princess Blanche, also called the Palatine Crown or Bohemian Crown, is the oldest surviving royal crown known to have been in England, and probably dates to 1370–80.

It is made of gold with diamonds, balas rubies, emeralds, sapphires, enamel and pearls. Its height and diameter are both 18 centimetres (7.1 in). The crown has been a property of the House of Wittelsbach since 1402, when it came with Princess Blanche of England, daughter of King Henry IV of England, on her marriage to Louis III, Elector Palatine.^[1]

After the junior Bavarian branch of the house became extinct in the male line in 1777, the senior Palatine branch replaced the former as the country's rulers. Today, the crown is displayed in the treasury of the Munich Residenz, where it has been kept since 1782. It has been described as "one of the finest achievements of the Gothic goldsmith".^[2]