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It took more than 1,500 leading artists, craftspeople and manufacturers, including Faberge and Cartier, three years to complete the project.

He was on the board at Faberge.

He has restored a diverse assortment of pieces, from one of Jeff Koons’ balloon dogs to a dog made of painted and folded cardboard; from three �󲹲������é eggs worth $100,000 apiece to a towering 9-foot-tall Batman figure for Warner Studios.

The UK-based miner owns the Faberge jewellery brand, operates ruby and emerald mines in southern Africa and has been exploring setting up operations in countries including Ethiopia and Madagascar.

But it’s hard to use the word “modern” to describe a ceremony that included, among many other exotic elements, an ancient 350-pound rock from Scotland called the Stone of Destiny; a hollow gold “Sovereign’s orb” encrusted with emeralds, rubies and sapphires, resembling a magnificent �󲹲������é egg, topped by a cross; numerous embroidered robes and jewel-studded crowns; two golden monarch-conveying carriages; and thousands of people in elaborate military costumes processing like some sort of fancy-dress army along the vast Mall that runs between Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace.