Queen Mary wore it that way again and again over many years.
See this link for some examples of her wearing it that way. In fact she never wore the full crown again after her coronation (and portrait sittings) to the best of my knowledge.
As far as we know, the structure of that base and those elements was not altered. Some Cullinans were inserted.
Perhaps people are assuming the rest was simply a matter of detaching four of the eight half-arches.
I'm saying no.
If you zoom in on this link, you can see two tiers of curled tips at the top of the arches, below the monde and cross.
That second lower tier of curled tips came from somewhere.
I assumed they have been cut off the ends of the four missing half-arches. If so I believe full restoration might not be possible. Maybe it was never intended to restore the crown after the 2023 coronation.
Nellie,
Long before Queen Camilla wore the crown to her coronation - it could be worn without any arches at all (see photo and text on the royal collection website). So I am a little baffled as to why you think there would have to be made permanent changes to the “coronet base” of the crown in order to wear the crown with 4 arches as Queen Camilla chose to do….
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