'He made a beeline for it': Prince Charles' moment of mischief on the Queen's coronation day

Prince Charles was quite the cheeky young man, and almost wreaked havoc on one of the biggest days of his mother's life.

Moments before Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953, the young prince had his sights set on the most priceless and precious item in the room — the Imperial State Crown.

Lady Anne Glenconner, one of the Queen's attendants on the historic occasion, shared her insights on the dramatic moment on the podcast My Life in Seven Charms with British jeweller Annoushka Ducas.

As a coronation maid on the day, Lady Anne said she "wouldn't dare" touch the dazzling crown, as it was "completely sacred".

The crown is fitted out with over 2,800 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls.

Made in 1937, it contains some of the most precious jewels in the world, and is also encrusted with four vibrant rubies.

However, the value of the 1.06 kg crown did not stop a then four-year-old Prince Charles from touching it.

Lady Anne said the young prince "got his paws" on the item, and "made a beeline" for the crown the moment the Queen took it off and perched it on a table.

"We thought he was going to drop it," she explains.

"We thought, 'Oh my goodness, that would be a bad omen.' But luckily, I think my mother, as a lady-in-waiting, seized it from him and took it away."

The Queen's coronation was among the first royal events to be televised.

It was viewed by over 27 million people in the UK with millions more around the world.

Three million people lined the streets of London to witness the spectacular moment.

Lady Anne also revealed the prince may have planned his crafty leap for the crown as he used to watch the Queen wearing it "when she was writing letters" to prepare for her coronation.

"I think Prince Charles says he remembers going in and seeing her wearing it. And asked her why she's wearing it. And she said she was practicing," she said.

In a BBC documentary, the Queen acknowledged the difficulty of managing the weight of the Imperial State Crown while speaking to parliament.

"You can't look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech up, because if you did your neck would break and it would fall off," she said.

"So, there are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise they're quite important things."

Her Majesty also remarked on two of the more distinctive pearls that hang from the crown.

"They were meant to be Queen Elizabeth's earrings. They don't look very happy now," she said.

"Most pearls like to be living creatures, so they've just been hanging out here for years, which is rather sad."

The Imperial State Crown was originally made for King George VI's 1937 coronation by royal jewellers Garrard & Co, for the occasion.