UK’s royal jewellery collation is known for possessing some of the most famous and valuable items. However, it also has some priceless jewels of the Mughals apart from just Koh-i-Noor diamond, an Indian office archive document revealed.
The 46-page document, obtained by The Guardian, explains how priceless pieces were extracted from India as trophies of conquest and later given to Queen Victoria.
Some of those items were displayed or worn by the royal family members over the years.
Sharing details about the jewels in its Cost of the Crown series, the publication wrote that a long gold girdle inlaid with 19 large emeralds once used by an Indian maharajah to decorate his horses was on display on the occasion of Prince Charles’s 70th birthday.
It was displayed along with sculptures, paintings, and other exhibits.
The horse decoration was first sighted in 1837, when Fanny Eden and her brother George, the governor-general of the British Raj at the time, visited Lahore to meet Ranjit Singh.
About 12 years later, when Singh’s youngest son and heir, Duleep, was forced to sign over Punjab to the conquering forces of the British East India Company, and as part of the conquest, they “plunder the horses’ emeralds and the legendary Koh-i-Noor diamond”.
Today, Koh-i-Noor – the most precious stone once owned by Singh – sits in the crown of Queen Elizabeth.
Moreover, two necklaces – one with rubies and the other with pearls – are also part of the royal collection.
A short necklace aka ‘Erroneous’ – consisting of four very large spinel rubies with the largest being 325.5-carat – is said to be owned by many kings of Persia and Mughal emperors.
The necklace was handed to Elizabeth II in 1969. The queen was never pictured wearing the item.
However, the other necklace featuring 224 large pearls was worn by the Queen on at least one occasion. Leslie Field in her 1987 study revealed that the jewel had originally belonged to the ruler of Punjab. However, Buckingham Palace was unable to confirm either way.
In 2012, Elizabeth II was seen wearing the necklace when she attended a gala festival at the Royal Opera House in London to celebrate her diamond jubilee.
