DHAKA: A temporary ban has been placed on Queen Victoria’s weeding coronet to prevent it from being sold abroad.

The sapphire and diamond coronet was designed by Prince Albert for their 1840 weeding, BBC reports.

The ban was commissioned when the owner applied for an export license, after no British buyer has matched the 5 million pound mark yet.

Culture minister Matt Hancock, who imposed the ban, said it symbolized one of the UK’s ‘most famous love stories’.

Experts consider it to be one of the most important jewels of Queen Victoria's reign, matching a sapphire and diamond brooch given to her by Albert the day before their wedding.

A concerning government committee said that the coronet has ‘close connection with our history and national life, and its outstanding significance for the study of the young Queen Victoria’.

“Its departure would be a great loss, given its beauty, its associations and its history," the committee said.

Further decision on the license will be deferred till December 27.

BDST: 1532 HRS, AUG 26, 2016
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