Get this... The sphere on Prince Charles' investiture coronet is actually a gold-plated PING PONG ball (pizzagatewhatever)

submitted ago by letsdothis3

In today's Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6772677/Kate-Meghan-reunite-time-Christmas-Queens-party.html#comments

The gold coronet, placed on Prince Charles's head at Caernarfon Castle by his mother in 1969, will be displayed at the celebration attended by all senior members of the royal family today.

But the coronet, designed by celebrated goldsmith Louis Osman, hides an astonishing secret which makes it rather unique among the monarch's crown jewels.

The orb in its centre is actually made from a ping pong ball.

Now, for the first time, David Mason, a 74-year-old retired chemical research manager from Warwickshire who made the striking gold circlet, tells the true story of the so-called 'imposter coronet' – including how the original design was smashed with just days to go, forcing him to drive with a hastily made replacement in the back of his unguarded Mini van.

Mr Mason was just 28 when he received a call in March 1969 from Mr Osman at his office at Engelhard Industries in Cinderford, then the world's largest refiner of precious metals.

He wanted to discuss a revolutionary new field Mr Mason was working in - gold electroforming - and revealed he had been asked to produce a headpiece for Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales.

Game of wiff waff? Prince Charles receives the crown from the Queen during his investiture as the Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle back in 1969 https://imgur.com/a/m81v5rL

You are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

letsdothis3 ago

Twitter thread on relationship between Englelhard and DuPont https://twitter.com/HousatonicITS/status/1104230994973020160

https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/En-Ge/Engelhard-Corporation.html

Engelhard Corporation, Incorporated: 1938 as Porocel Corporation

Engelhard Corporation is a leading supplier of catalysts used in the petroleum, chemical, and food industries. An unusually diversified company, Engelhard also produces a variety of industrial products such as paper coating agents, color pigments, temperature sensing devices, and precious metal-coated anodes, as well as materials for consumer goods such as cosmetics and automotive paints. A unifying thread of its many activities is surface and materials science—chemically or mechanically engineering ingredients to give them specific properties. For most of the 20th century, the name Engelhard was been associated with the glamorous, and sometimes notorious, world of precious metals: gold, silver, and those metals in the platinum group. Since pioneering catalytic converters for automobiles in the 1970s, Engelhard has become involved in a very broad range of industries. It has numerous international subsidiaries. A little more than half of the company's sales come from outside the United States.

International Flavors and Fragrances, Lyondell Chemicals https://www. amazon.com/Century-Investors-Guide-Chemical-Companies/dp/1422001571

International Flavors and Fragrances: greening a taste and smell supply chain - https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/international-flavors-fragrances-household-chemicals