1 00:00:08,489 --> 00:00:12,220 ALAN POWER: Hello and welcome to the National Trust podcast. Last 2 00:00:12,229 --> 00:00:14,729 week, we were in Cliveden exploring the fascinating 3 00:00:14,739 --> 00:00:18,149 characters there. In this mini episode, we present one of 4 00:00:18,159 --> 00:00:22,229 Cliveden's most intriguing tales. The story of the Sancy 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:35,900 Diamond. 6 00:00:35,900 --> 00:00:45,590 In 1906, William Astor gave some extraordinary gifts. 7 00:00:45,590 --> 00:00:48,790 To his son Waldorf, he gifted Cliveden the house and the 8 00:00:48,799 --> 00:00:52,209 grounds and to his daughter in law, Nancy, he gifted a huge 9 00:00:52,220 --> 00:00:55,490 pale yellow diamond known as the Sancy Diamond. 10 00:01:01,950 --> 00:01:06,010 The diamond now it's the size probably of a large Horse 11 00:01:06,019 --> 00:01:08,690 Chestnut and it's cut impeccably. 12 00:01:09,370 --> 00:01:11,830 I'm looking at a photograph, by the way, I don't actually have 13 00:01:11,839 --> 00:01:15,660 the diamond in my hand. I wish I did. I'd be, I'd be gone, but 14 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,370 you can actually almost see the lines dissecting the diamond as 15 00:01:19,379 --> 00:01:23,529 I look at it. It's an amazing piece of jewelry. Now, the story 16 00:01:23,540 --> 00:01:25,190 of the diamond is quite complicated. 17 00:01:26,790 --> 00:01:31,209 It begins in 1570 several sources suggest that it belonged 18 00:01:31,220 --> 00:01:34,419 to Charles The Bold, Duke of Burgundy before it was passed to 19 00:01:34,430 --> 00:01:40,620 the King of Portugal and then sold to Senior De Sancy. Then 20 00:01:40,629 --> 00:01:43,599 others claim that Sancy came across the gem in 21 00:01:43,610 --> 00:01:44,699 Constantinople. 22 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,209 Now, Sancy was a savvy guy and he loaned the diamond to the 23 00:01:51,220 --> 00:01:54,410 kings for all sorts of purposes. I can imagine that some of that 24 00:01:54,419 --> 00:01:56,610 was just to show off because there can't have been that many 25 00:01:56,620 --> 00:01:58,209 diamonds around of that size. 26 00:02:00,919 --> 00:02:03,500 While King Henry III of France used the stone to decorate his 27 00:02:03,510 --> 00:02:06,750 cap, a cap that he had taken to wearing to cover his premature 28 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:07,379 baldness. 29 00:02:07,389 --> 00:02:10,399 It's quite a big extravagant way of decorating a cap I would 30 00:02:10,410 --> 00:02:11,559 think. 31 00:02:11,559 --> 00:02:14,399 Henry IV wanted to use the diamond as a way of financially 32 00:02:14,410 --> 00:02:18,720 securing his army. But the courier tasked with transporting 33 00:02:18,729 --> 00:02:20,830 the diamond to the King never arrived. 34 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:27,029 People didn't know whether the courier had stolen the diamond 35 00:02:27,039 --> 00:02:29,309 from the King, whether he had just run away with it himself. 36 00:02:29,830 --> 00:02:32,759 One legend alleges that he was ambushed by bandits while 37 00:02:32,770 --> 00:02:34,800 transporting the gem. 38 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,490 In a final and desperate attempt to save the gem from robbery, 39 00:02:37,500 --> 00:02:42,570 the courier swallowed the stone before he was murdered, but it 40 00:02:42,580 --> 00:02:44,850 was later retrieved from his stomach in an autopsy. 41 00:02:51,770 --> 00:02:55,789 The diamond is not only a thing of extravagant beauty but rumor 42 00:02:55,800 --> 00:03:00,529 has it that it possesses mystical powers. Some say it 43 00:03:00,539 --> 00:03:04,259 brings invincibility. Others say it carries a vicious curse that 44 00:03:04,270 --> 00:03:07,679 brings a violent death to those who carry it like the poor 45 00:03:07,690 --> 00:03:14,119 courier. He wasn't very invincible was he? 46 00:03:14,119 --> 00:03:16,940 Once the gem was cleaned up after it came out of the 47 00:03:16,949 --> 00:03:21,800 courier, Sancy sold it on to James I in 1605. Then from 48 00:03:21,809 --> 00:03:25,460 there, it changed hands again through English royalty and into 49 00:03:25,470 --> 00:03:26,860 the hands of the French monarchy. 50 00:03:30,979 --> 00:03:33,820 The stone was stolen during the French Revolution and wasn't 51 00:03:33,830 --> 00:03:36,979 seen until it turned up in the collection of a Russian 52 00:03:36,990 --> 00:03:41,080 nobleman. Over 40 years later, it was sold to an Indian Prince. 53 00:03:41,479 --> 00:03:45,160 From there It made its way back to France before resurfacing 54 00:03:45,169 --> 00:03:54,110 again in 1906 when it was bought by William Waldorf Astor. 55 00:03:54,110 --> 00:03:58,050 After he gave it to his daughter in law, Nancy, it stayed in the 56 00:03:58,059 --> 00:04:03,809 Astor family for 72 years until it was sold to the Louve in 1978 57 00:04:03,940 --> 00:04:05,729 for $1 million. 58 00:04:06,660 --> 00:04:09,779 Today, the diamond is kept in the Apollo Gallery, a suitably 59 00:04:09,789 --> 00:04:15,000 grand resting place for this incredible stone. So although 60 00:04:15,009 --> 00:04:18,059 the Sancy diamond now lives across the channel, its history 61 00:04:18,070 --> 00:04:20,549 is still entwined with that of Cliveden. 62 00:04:27,190 --> 00:04:30,040 Thanks for listening to this week's National Trust podcast 63 00:04:30,049 --> 00:04:33,899 mini episode. Join us next week to enjoy the sweet sound of bird 64 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,540 song. Until then from me, Alan Power. Goodbye.