coronet, in Great Britain, ceremonial headdress of a peer or peeress, still worn with robes at a coronation and adorned along its rim with ornaments varying with the rank of the wearer: 8 strawberry leaves for a duke; 4 leaves and 4 silver balls for a marquess; 8 balls on tall points with strawberry leaves between for an earl; 16 small, close-set balls for a viscount; and 6 larger balls, more widely spaced, for a baron. The coronet is silver gilt and has an inner cap of crimson velvet with a gilt tassel and a narrow border of ermine.
The prince of Wales (heir apparent) has a special coronet, or demi-crown, of gold crossed by a single arch from front to back, and the coronets of other near relatives of the sovereign bear alternate crosses and fleurs-de-lis. At a coronation the coronets are carried by pages and are put on at the moment when St. Edward’s Crown is set on the head of the sovereign; when there is a queen consort, the peeresses wait for the moment of her coronation before doing the same. Coronets of various forms are depicted over the armorial bearings of continental European noblemen, but they have not been made and worn as in Great Britain. The word coronet signifies a small or lesser crown.