§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) of 27 November,Official Report, column 449, on the crown of Queen Adelaide, if the imperial crown of George I and the coronation crown of George IV are classified as regalia. [5324]
§ Mr. Sproat[holding answer 12 December 1995]: Following an objection by my Department's expert adviser to the issue of export licences, the applications to export the frames of the imperial crown of George I and the coronation of George IV were 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 frames constituted regalia. The reviewing committee was advised that the discarded crown frames could not be regarded as part of the regalia.
§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on the history of ownership of the Imperial State Crown of George I and the Coronation Crown of George IV since 1965. [5239]
§ Mr. SproatThe crown frames were lent by the Amherst family to the Museum of London from 1933 to 1985. We have no information about the ownership of the crown frames between the withdrawal of the loan to the museum of London and the purchase of the frames by Asprey (Bond Street) Ltd. in 1987. I understand that they have now been acquired by Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei and that the prince has most generously decided to present them to the nation.