§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will take steps to ensure the frame of the coronation crown of Queen Adelaide is classified as regalia and is not granted an export licence to the United States of America. [194]
§ Mr. SproatFollowing an objection to the issue of an export licence by my Department's expert adviser, the application to export the frame of the coronation crown of Queen Adelaide was referred, in the normal way, to the reviewing committee on the export of works of art. The reviewing committee consulted my Department, the Treasury Solicitor's Department and the Lord Chamberlain's Office on whether the crown frame constituted regalia. The reviewing committee was advised that the discarded crown frame could not be regarded as part of the regalia.
159WA decision on the export licence application has been deferred until after 24 January 1996 to give the opportunity for an offer to purchase the crown frame to be made at or above the fair market price of £425,000.
A summary of this case is contained in the annual report of the reviewing committee on the export of works of art 1994–95, which was placed in the Library of the House last 24 October. Decisions on the export licence applications for the frame of the imperial crown of George I and the frame of the coronation crown of George IV have also been deferred until after 24 January 1996 to enable purchase offers to be made.