The Croaker Queen crown is one of the most recognizable and narratively significant props from the 1997 horror film *I Know What You Did Last Summer*.
Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is introduced as Southport's newly crowned 1996 Croaker Queen. Following the Fourth of July celebration, Helen and her friends are involved in the accident that sets the film's events in motion. When the group attempts to dispose of the man they believe they have killed, he comes back to life and grabs Helen, pulling the crown from her head before falling into the water. The crown, combined with Helen's public identity as Croaker Queen, provides a connection to Helen and her friends, allowing him to identify and track them down when he returns a year later.
At least two Croaker Queen prop crowns appear to have been used during production. Although they share the same basic design, they differ slightly in structure, symmetry, spacing, and the placement and colors of individual stones. These variations help distinguish the crowns when comparing photographs with the finished film.
The crown documented here was later offered at auction and can be matched to multiple scenes, including Helen's crowning at the beginning of the film and her appearance onstage as reigning Croaker Queen during the following year's pageant. Although no longer in pristine condition, the auction photographs provide a rare, detailed record of an original screen-used prop and its construction, shape, stone arrangement, colors, and other identifying characteristics.
