The Habsburgs just kept it hidden for 100 years…
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Its 137 carats, intricately cut, passed through the hands of one European dynasty after another – the Medicis, the Habsburgs – before disappearing in the fog of two world wars. The mystery of its whereabouts inspired rumours, fiction, even a high-priced perfume.
Now, the mystery has been solved. The descendants of its final known owner, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, revealed on Thursday that the Florentine Diamond has been safely tucked in a vault all along – in Quebec.
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Given the recurring threats to the family, Zita told her children to keep the location of the trove secret for a hundred years after her husband’s death. But 2022 came and went, and still Zita’s children and grandchildren kept their promise.
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Finally, after three years of discussions about what to do, the narrow branch of the Habsburg family that has known all along has come clean.
The recent Louvre heist made the Quebec financial institution where the jewels are stored reluctant to reveal their location, even now. But they will remain in Canada for the foreseeable future, held in a Canadian trust with Zita’s descendants as beneficiaries, and be put on public display as soon as possible.
, happy, happy birthday, Beck!!