Calls are growing in South Africa for the British royal family to return the world’s largest known clear diamond following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Known as the Great Star of Africa or Cullinan I, the diamond is cut from a larger gem that was mined in South Africa in 1905 and given to the British royal family by South African colonial authorities. It is currently mounted on a royal scepter belonging to the Queen.
Demands for the return of the Great Star of Africa and other diamonds, along with calls for repatriations, have intensified since the Queen’s death. Many South Africans consider Britain’s acquisition of the jewels illegitimate.
According to the Royal Collection Trust, which oversees the royal collection of the British royal family, the Cullinan I was presented to King Edward VII in 1907, two years after its discovery in a private mine in the former Transvaal province of South Africa.
“It was sent to Asscher in Amsterdam to be split up in 1908,” he added.
Weighing around 3106 carats in its natural form, the original diamond was “the size of a human heart”, says the Royal Asscher.
Supporting the British monarchy’s claim to the gemstone, the Royal Asscher explains that the gem was purchased by the Transvaal Government of South Africa (run by British rule) and presented to King Edward VII as a gift from birthday
A professor of African politics at the University of South Africa, Everisto Benyera, rejects this narrative. He told CNN that “colonial transactions are illegitimate and immoral.”
“Our narrative is that all the governments of the Transvaal and the Union of South Africa and the concomitant mining unions were illegal,” Benyera said, arguing that: “Receiving a stolen diamond does not exonerate the receiver. The Big Star it is a blood diamond… Private (mining) enterprise, the Transvaal government and the British Empire were part of a larger network of coloniality.’