Britain's Crown Jewels aren't worth the cost (to humanity)

If you own 23,000 gemstones but won’t sell them, are they truly worth anything? Put another way: If you have enough jewels to eradicate poverty but choose to hoard them instead, are you worthy of wearing them―or the awe they inspire when you do?

I just visited the Tower of London and saw England’s Crown Jewels. A moving walkway slowly took us alongside what the Historic Royal Palaces describes as “the nation’s most precious treasures …. comprising more than 100 objects and over 23,000 gemstones.” 

I can only describe them as a nauseating display of wasted resources.

Though officially deemed “priceless” for their intrinsic and historical value, the London English Standard has reported estimates at “between £3 billion and £5 billion” ($3.7 billion-$6.3 billion). 

Let’s forget for a moment that most of this loot was taken from African and Middle Eastern countries, mined by the poorest of people who remained so (if they lived) despite their fantastic discoveries. (Read Helena Cobbann’s Britain’s Crown Jewels: Time to decolonize, repatriate!)

Instead, let’s focus on hunger. 

In 2021, World Food Programme chief David Beasley suggested that Elon Musk (another source of a great deal of money) could eradicate hunger worldwide. Even better than selling all the Crown Jewels, Musk would need to give up only 2% of his wealth. In response, Musk said he’d do it if the United Nations could come up with a real plan. 

They did. He didn’t.

So, back to the Crown Jewels, which don’t belong to any one person. They sit behind bulletproof glass most of the time as the travelator moves ordinary people along to gape at what they can never have. Using the WFP’s calculation, liquidating them could feed every hungry man, woman and child in the world without making a single individual any less rich.

Instead, we’re letting people stay hungry.

Every country has hungry citizens

Let’s start with where I live: Almost 25% of North Carolinian kids are regularly food insecure, yet the Republican Study Committee’s proposed 2024 budget called for eliminating free school meals. Across this country, Feeding America says more than 44 million people face hunger, including 1 in 5 children. Yet a gift of $1 can fund at least 10 meals through the agency’s network of food banks. 

City Harvest London reports that 97% of UK adults are seriously concerned about food costs. In Nigeria, 26.5 million people are “projected to face acute hunger in the June-August 2024 lean season. This is a staggering increase from the 18.6 million people food insecure at the end of 2023.” 

If a dollar can fund 10 meals, could the Crown Jewels fund 10 times $3.7 billion-$6.3 billion? Could they take the fear of starvation out of the faces of Nigerian mothers this summer? Could they lower food costs for Brits who struggle to feed their families?

If so, how much comfort can we really derive from glimpsing a 530-carat diamond on the Sovereign’s Sceptre? 

Let’s get back to the World Food Programme’s plan for eradicating hunger. Meanwhile, each of us can start by supporting a nonprofit food bank near us and all the volunteers who distribute food every day.

Find a local food bank