Crown Jewels looted from Africa

[Birdy1066]

The massive diamond in the sceptre of the monarch is the Great Star of Africa, 530.2 carats . It was discovered in 1905 and ‘gifted’ to the British royal family by the then colonial powers.
Activists in South Africa are now demanding that it is returned. I absolutely agree with them. Amid all the pomp and ceremony of the recent funeral everyone turns a blind eye to the fact that many of the gems in the Crown Jewels were looted from Africa in one form or another under colonialism.
Africa is NOT poor. But it’s peoples are poor because it’s mineral wealth and massive riches have been torn out of it and shipped elsewhere by western countries.
The majority of the British press couldn’t give a toss about the colonialist legacy of Great Britain but it is crucially important that the issue is examined and reparations made.
Those glittering diamonds, emeralds and rubies so much admired and set in the crowns and gaudy trinkets of the rich were taken out the dirt of Africa and dipped in the blood of its people.
At the very least it’s time they were returned.
Do you agree ?

[TheLeadbetterLife]

@Phos

Wasn't stolen, was bought.

Inconvenient truth.

Bought from whom?

[Mamamia7962]

TheLeadBetterLife - It wasn't stolen, it was bought so therefore it stays here.

[RhannionKPSS]

It would be stolen within weeks...or maybe sold to get the money to build more Electrcity power plants in SA, as there is rolling “ load shedding “ ( power cuts ) and have been for years...HTH

[RhannionKPSS]

@LadyKenya

Yes, mostly from the Western world.

No, the corruption generally comes from the ANC & their cronies, like China

[Fraaahnces]

While I am as anticolonialist as you could possibly be, I think if all the jewels were returned to their countries of origin (the Kohi Noor Diamond on the crown was a “gift” from India), then all the artifacts in museums would also need to be returned to their countries of origin too. Elgin Marbles, Egyptian artifacts, etc.

[TheLeadbetterLife]

@Mamamia7962

TheLeadBetterLife - It wasn't stolen, it was bought so therefore it stays here.

Alright, let me put it another way.

My neighbour has some land which has some natural resources that I like the look of. I'll take it by brute force, tell my neighbour she must now accept King Charles III as her sovereign (because I myself am British), and set up my own legal system that officially declares her land as mine.

Then I sell what are now my natural resources to Liz Truss, which she then gives to King Charles as a birthday present.

My neighbour can fuck right off with any complaints, yes?

[TheLeadbetterLife]

@Fraaahnces

While I am as anticolonialist as you could possibly be, I think if all the jewels were returned to their countries of origin (the Kohi Noor Diamond on the crown was a “gift” from India), then all the artifacts in museums would also need to be returned to their countries of origin too. Elgin Marbles, Egyptian artifacts, etc.

And what's wrong with that?

[Cheeselog]

@Knockon

And how does keeping it help the people in the UK?

It doesn’t - it makes pretty much no difference to anyone except the royal family. So why would it help anyone in SA if it was in a museum there instead? Or are they proposing to chip it into microscopic pieces so everyone gets one?

[Sistanotcista]

But than, even better than that is to tear down the diamond industry totally - so that it is not worth so much that it encourages violence and corruption in pursuit of vast wealth.

@DevilsVineBlues - totally, totally agree with you here. Much to DH's delight, I won't buy or own any mined stones for these reasons. When we see the devastation from wars funded by blood diamonds, it's hard to keep buying them.

[fallinover]

The past is a foreign country.

Rather than tie ourselves in knots about what happened long before we were born by people most of us have no links to we could actually work on sorting out current issues.

My ancestors were used as child laborers in mills. I could ask for reparations from the mills owners descendants, as could many in the UK.

But it makes more sense to to try and prevent child labor here and now.

[LadyHarmby]

I can’t get annoyed about this. Why don’t we focus our energy and resources in improving life for the poor in Africa going forward, rather than arguing about things that may have been right or wrong centuries ago.

[Kpo58]

@TheLeadbetterLife

And what's wrong with that?

Because some governments and terrorist groups are systematically trying to destroy their own heritage. Does things like is Isis bombing at Palmyra or the Chinese culture revolution mean nothing to you?

[worriedniece]

No. It's in the past. It seems wrong that famous mummified remains are in the British museum, but it's done now

[3peassuit]

It would make no difference to the lives of the people in the UK if they were returned and replaced with glass. They should be handed back to the countries they were looted or “gifted” from.

[ZenNudist]

I agree this is virtue signalling. It's not going to make life better for either poorer families in Africa or poorer people here. I'm fed up of people bleating on about fabricated injustices from history rather than focusing on the immense amount of injustice going on right here right now such as the policies being implemented by liz truss' government.

[B00mShakeShakeShakeTheR00m]

I agree with you, OP.

[newjobwhodisperhaps]

@TheLeadbetterLife

The usual xenophobic responses to these kinds of legitimate enquiries.

"Can't possibly give the Elgin Marbles back to the feckless Greeks, they won't look after them properly".

"Can't give jewels back to the countries we stole them from, they're all corrupt, don't you know? We'll look after it for them, until such time as they can prove to be as upstanding and moral as we obviously are."

The colonial attitude never really goes away, even when the former occupiers are now a tinpot state which launders money on an industrial scale, and has a shitshow of a government that can't keep things going for more than 18 months without an election.

Exactly this 👏🏽

[Sulusu]

@LadyKenya

Sounds no different to the Government we have here in the Uk.

Oh it's massively different. The corruption in SA is on a different scale entirely.

[Aposterhasnoname]

@InWalksBarberalla

Curious - is the UK government sharing the wealth of the jewels with the UK people?

What do you want them to do? Flog them on eBay? (Which isn’t far off what some corrupt leaders would do) The Crown Jewels generate a huge amount of tourism, so in a roundabout way yes it is shared amongst the British people

[ohfook]

Of course stolen jewels should be returned.

I'm shit with money and my house is sometimes a mess, but if I was burgled it wouldn't be right for the burglars to say I can have my stuff back once I get my house up to their standards.

[ohfook]

@LadyHarmby

I can’t get annoyed about this. Why don’t we focus our energy and resources in improving life for the poor in Africa going forward, rather than arguing about things that may have been right or wrong centuries ago.

Because the two are linked.

[LearnerCook]

We can't rewrite history. Learn from it, yes. But nothing will change it. I'm not going to apologise from wanting to make good on the legacy we inherited.

Pulling down statues, returning stones etc won't satisfy the woke, virtue signallers anyway.

Returning things to corrupt governments will not help the people. And before anyone says it, our own government, bad as it is, is nothing like as corrupt as many around the world. And it's downright ridiculous to pretend they are.

[ArcticSkewer]

Good debating topic for sixth form

[AntlerRose]

Its pretty worthless just sat on an object anyway. Would anyone notice if it was replaced with a bit of glass? Its all symbolic why cant something British like a bit of slate or sandstone replace it.

[MrsEdnaWelthorpe]

@Birdy1066

Lockheart yes I would give my phone up, and I’ve never owned a diamond or precious stone in my entire life !
Some heartwarming responses on here ! Not !

So do it. And your laptop as well.