Indian social media flooded with demands for UK to return the Kohinoor after Queen's death

Late on Thursday, the world's longest serving monarch - Queen Elizabeth II - passed away at the age of 96. While the news was received with sobriety in England, netizens from other countries don't share the sentiment.

Since the announcement of the Queen's demise, twitterati from across the world - especially those from formerly colonised nations - have responded with jubilation, barring a small fraction.

Since the BBC announcement, the internet has been flooded in equal measures with memes and memorials.


Indian twitter, in the meantime, has renewed demands for the return of the Kohinoor


Some have taken to posting clips of Hrithik Roshan from the early 2000s movie Dhoom:2, in which the actor played a thief who impersonated the Queen.

The Kohinoor is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, clocking in at a neat 21.12 grams. Currently set in the crown of the Queen, the diamond is part of the British Crown jewels.

The earliest proper record of the gem is from 1740, when Muhammad Maharvi notes the Koh-i-Noor as being one of many stones on the Mughal Peacock Throne that Nader Shah looted from Delhi.

After passing around the country, the diamond eventually went to Queen Victoria after the British Empire's annexation of Punjab in 1849.

Historically, only women of the British royal family have worn the Kohinoor, as they believe the gem brings bad luck to any man who wears it. Passed down from Queen Victoria to Queen Alexandra - who wore it in her crown - to Queen Mary and finally to Queen Elizabeth.

Post-independence, multiple nations have laid claim to the Kohinoor but Britain has insisted that the gem was obtained legally under the terms of the Last Treaty of Lahore.