The recumbent effigy has a moustache and is wearing mixed mail and plate armour with a sword and a shield with John’s coat of arms carved on it (the three lions of England with a border of fleur de lys) and his legs are crossed (contrary to popular belief this does not mean he was a Crusader). The angels who support the head cushions are ready to bear his soul to Heaven. A lion lies at his feet, a symbol of strength and loyalty. No inscription ever seems to have been put on the monument. Around the tomb base are small figures or “weepers” of kings and queens, probably representing members of John’s family. The best preserved weepers are on the north side as they are protected by the chapel screen. There are no coats of arms remaining below the figures so they cannot be identified. There was originally an elaborate canopy over the tomb but this was broken at a funeral in 1776 and later removed.

Coat-of-arms: England with a bordure azure charged with fleurs-de-lis or.
As Earl of Cornwall, John had use of the coat of arms of the kingdom, differenced by a bordure France (i.e. azure semy of fleur-de-lys or)
was three times regent when Edward III was absent. The canopy was broken in 1776 and unfortunately removed
In 1328 John was created Earl of Cornwall by his elder brother King Edward III
6 October 1328, the year after his brother Edward's accession to the crown, John of Eltham was created Earl of Cornwall in a parliament at Salisbury. The next year Edward journeyed to France to do homage for his lands there; and Prince John was made "Custos of the kingdom and King's Lieutenant while he went beyond the seas."
In 1334 a third proposal of marriage was made between the Prince and Mary, daughter of Ferdinand, King of Spain. The agreement was drawn up and all was settled. The wedding however was not to be. "For in the month following being in Scotland in St. John's Town (now Perth) he died in October, 1334, at his nineteenth year of age."

He is clad in plate armor, and wears the cyclas, a curious garment cut much shorter in front than behind; "beneath it, the gambeson; then the coat of mail; and lastly the haqueton." The Prince's sword-handle, ornamented with lion's heads, is beautifully sculptured; and the shield has three splendid lions on it—the English royal arms—bordered with the French fleur-de-lis. Round his helmet is a coronet, which is remarkable as the first of the kind known. It is of the ducal form with greater and lesser trefoil leaves alternately, instead of the usual circlet.