A historic diamond has finally been located after disappearing during the aftermath of World War I in the early 1900s.
Charles I, Emperor of Austria-Hungary, believed his empire was ending at in 1918 as the war was ending. To prepare, he arranged for the Habsburg dynasty’s family jewels to be moved to safety in Switzerland.
The star of the collection was the fabled 137-carat Florentine diamond, once owned by the Medici family.
Its rare size, cut, and colour – crystal clear, with hues of yellow and green – made the diamond, from India, world famous.
But after the first World War, there was no sighting of the diamond, prompting fears the diamond had disappeared, been stolen, or recut.
Now, three Habsburg relatives have revealed to the New York Times that the diamond has been safe for decades – in a rather unexpected place.
Charles I’s wife, Empress Zita, fled from Europe with her family after facing threats for opposing the Nazi regime.
Charles was ultimately declared an ‘enemy of the state’, leading to him and Zita fleeing to the United States with their eight children in 1940.
Her secret? She was carrying the priceless jewels in a small cardboard suitcase, keeping them safe until ultimately settling in Quebec.
Her grandson, Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen, said: ‘I assume that, at that stage, the little suitcase went into a bank safe, and that was it. And in that bank safe, it just stayed.’
The legendary Florentine diamond was sitting wrapped up tightly in the cardboard suitcase, inside a Canadian bank, for decades. Its location is finally known after more than a century.
Zita kept her lips sealed as well – only telling two of her sons, Robert and Rodolphe, about where the precious stone was.
She also made them promise they would not tell anyone about its location until 2022.
‘The less people know about it, the bigger the security,’ von Habsburg-Lothringen said.
The family told the New York Times they hope to display the Florentine diamond in Canada, to thank the country for letting Zita and her children flee there during the war.
In 1953, Zita returned to Europe, where she died at the age of 96, keeping her secret safe even in death.
Karl added: ‘I think she wanted to make sure that it was not in her lifetime.
‘I have the feeling she was very glad that some important objects of the family were something that she had saved.
‘That was historically very important for her, because she was somebody who was thinking very much in historic terms.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.