Italy’s Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy will auction off 41 rare jewels next week.
Gabriella, 67, explained she is selling the ‘rare and stupendous’ jewels at London’s Christie’s auction house to help her settle a tax bill.
The centrepiece of the collection is a diamond tiara made by Fabergé in 1895, which she inherited from her late Belgium-born mother Queen Marie José.
The tiara - which contains tear-drop diamonds - is estimated to be worth between £390,000 and £600,000 but experts say it could fetch up to three times as much.
The piece is known as the Empress Joséphine Tiara as it was given to the French empress by Tsar Alexandra I following her divorce from Napoléan I.
Further treasures to be auctioned include a double string of diamonds containing 1,859 stones, a 10-string pearl necklace given by Italy’s King Umberto I to his consort Queen Margherita, and a pink diamond.
The main collection of royal jewels have lain in a vault in Rome’s Bank of Italy since 1946 and have yet to go on public display due to uncertainty over their ownership.
When Britain’s Queen Elizabeth visited Italy in 2000 some Italian officials said the jewels were the property of the Italian nation and should be put on display. Last year, Mario Draghi, the governor of the Bank of Italy, said that he saw ‘no reason why the jewels should not see the light of day’.
© bangshowbiz.biz
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