Thousands of royal diamonds go on display

The Diamond Diadem is one of the Queen's most widely recognised pieces of jewellery Credit: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

More than 10,000 diamonds owned by six monarchs over three centuries have gone on display at Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

The exhibition includes a number of the Queen's personal jewels and works from the royal collection chosen for their artistic significance and their historic importance.

Several pieces of jewellery, such as the Delhi Durbar Tiara, Queen Victoria's fringe brooch and the Kokoshnik Tiara, are on display for the first time.

The exhibition includes jewellery made from the world's largest diamond, the Cullinan diamond, which weighed 3,106 carats as an uncut stone.

The exhibition also features several pieces commissioned by Queen Victoria, the only other monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee.

One of the highlights is the miniature crown she wore for her official Diamond Jubilee portrait in 1897, which contains 1,187 diamonds.

The Small Diamond Crown was the most recognisable jewel of Queen Victoria's old age Credit: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Exhibition curator Caroline de Guitaut described the exhibition as "an opportunity for people to see some of the most remarkable diamonds in royal possession".

A Table Snuff Box of Frederick the Great of Prussia has almost 3,000 diamonds encrusted into it Credit: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration exhibition is part of the summer opening of Buckingham Palace and will run from June 30 to July 8 and July 31 to October 7.

ITV Daybreak's Carla Eberhardt gets a sneak preview of the glittering array.