1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:10,200 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankie listener Discretion advised the empire 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: was collapsing around him, but Count Leopold Burke told had 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: a job to do. It was November one, nineteen eighteen, 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 1: the tail end of World War One and the end 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: of the Austrian Empire. The Emperor Charles the First knew 7 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: that his days were numbered and that he and his 8 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,880 Speaker 1: family needed to leave the country as soon as possible, 9 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: and so he had sent Count Leopold, the Lord Chamberlain, 10 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: down to the Imperial Treasury. The display of crown jewels 11 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: was staggeringly impressive. This is the Habsburg dynasty, for goodness sake. 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: The display cases boasted glittering crowns, dripping pearls, and diamonds 13 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: so large that they look fake. There were jewelry sets 14 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: that had belonged to some of the most famous women 15 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: in history, Empress Maria Teresa, Empress Elizabeth Marie Antoinette, and 16 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: the Forgive Me Crown jewel of the collection was genuinely staggering. 17 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: The Florentine Diamond, a stunning one hundred and thirty seven 18 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: carrot stone with a century's long pedigree. With the future 19 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: breathing down his neck, Count Leopold emptied the display case 20 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: numbered thirteen, wrapping the priceless jewels in paper and packing 21 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: them into two bags. That very night, the Count boarded 22 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: a train for Switzerland, where the Emperor Charles, his wife Zita, 23 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: and their family would begin their exile. Fifty three jewelry 24 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: pieces were taken out of Austria. Fourteen of those were 25 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: from the Empress Zita's private collector, while the rest were 26 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: historical treasures that belonged to the Habsburg Lorraine dynastic household. 27 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: But the question of who most of those jewels actually 28 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: belonged to turned out to be a slightly complicated one. 29 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: After all, technically, the crown jewels of an empire aren't 30 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: really the private property of each individual reigning monarch. They 31 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: belonged to the country itself, and that certainly an argument 32 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: that the new Austrian Republic would try to make, arguing 33 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,919 Speaker 1: at different points over the next century that the jewels 34 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: had been removed illegally, even though at the time the 35 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: imperial family had cataloged them as their personal possessions. The 36 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: display case thirteen would be left empty in the Royal 37 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: Treasury a reminder of the treasures that had been taken. 38 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: But you can't argue about who owns something that nobody 39 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: can confined. Because after nineteen eighteen, the Florentine diamond disappeared, 40 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: vanished with no record. Was it lost, sold, stolen. The 41 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: most pragmatic theory is that it was cut into smaller, 42 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: still probably jaw droppingly huge diamonds and sold off piecemeal. 43 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: Some people imagined that a servant had stolen the jewels 44 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 1: away to South America, but the mystery of the missing 45 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: Florentine diamond would go on to inspire novels and operas, 46 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: captivating writers and creatives all imagining how a historic one 47 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty seven carrot diamond might have disappeared without 48 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: a trace. In the end, it would take more than 49 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: one hundred years, but the Florentine diamond would be found 50 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: in a place that nobody had expected. I'm Danish Schwartz 51 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. The Florentine diamond is a 52 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: genuinely stunning stone. As I mentioned, it's massive, but it's 53 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: also a unique and captivating color. It's yellowish, slightly golden, 54 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: once described as wine mixed tenfold with water. Its documented 55 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: history begins in the seventeenth century with the Medici in Florence, 56 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: but there are a number of stories attempting to trace 57 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: its earlier provenance. According to one story, the original stone 58 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: was cut for Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, 59 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: who had been allegedly wearing it when he fought in 60 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: the Battle of Nancy in fourteen seventy seven. Spoiler alert 61 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,919 Speaker 1: for a centuries old battle. But things did not go 62 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 1: well for Charles, clearly if he did have the precursor 63 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: to the Florentine eye, and it wasn't a good luck charm. 64 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: Charles and his men were brutally defeated, and Charles was 65 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: killed on the battlefield, although his mutilated body wasn't actually 66 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: found until two days later. As the story goes, a 67 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: scavenger had by that point already plucked the diamond off 68 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: his body in the dirt, and, thinking that the stone 69 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,239 Speaker 1: must have just been cut, Glass, sold it for two 70 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 1: francs to somebody who had all of the luck that 71 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: Charles the Bold didn't. The stone then eventually was sold 72 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: to Ludovico Sforza, and then by way of the prominent 73 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:43,359 Speaker 1: Fugar family eventually became a treasure of the Medici, with 74 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: a pit stop in the collection of Pope Julius the 75 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: second along the way. An alternate version of the history 76 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: of the diamond, if it hadn't been fighting in the 77 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: Burgundian Wars, is that instead of France, it had been 78 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: over in southern India, and in the fifteen hundreds it 79 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: was purchased from the King of Vijayanagar by the Portuguese 80 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: governor of Goa, who then deposited the diamond with Jesuits 81 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: in Rome until it was eventually purchased by Ferdinando the 82 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: First de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Ferdinando the First 83 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: gave the massive stone to his son Cosimo, who commissioned 84 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: a Venetian gem cutter working in Florence to refine it. 85 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: However it got there, we know that here, with Ferdinando 86 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: and Cossimo, is where the confirmed journey of our stone 87 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: really begins, hence its name the Florentine Diamond. When Cossimo died, 88 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: the records describe the massive diamond surrounded by a band 89 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: of smaller diamonds, as a gift from his late father. 90 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: Cossimo would eventually gift the stone to his own son, 91 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: Ferdinando the Second. He was the owner of the diamond 92 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: when it was described by a friend, traveler and jeweler 93 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: named Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who saw the stone with his 94 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: own eyes in sixteen fifty seven. But the diamond would 95 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: leave Florence eventually, Dynastic families fall, but diamonds are forever, 96 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: and the last of the male medici Aires died in 97 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: seventeen thirty seven. The diamond then went to the next 98 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: Grand Duke of Tuscany, the French Duke Francis the third 99 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: Stephen of Lorraine and his wife Maria Teresa of Austria. 100 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 1: They were the founders of the massive Habsburg Lorraine dynasty, 101 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: possibly most famous to most audiences as the parents of 102 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette, and with them the diamond made its way 103 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: to the Austrian treasury. Francis Stephen wore it in his 104 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: crown when he became the Holy Roman Emperor. The diamond 105 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: would eventually be given a new setting in a hat 106 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: agress or an ornament meant to stick out of a 107 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: hat like a feather. I imagine a very very heavy feather. 108 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty five, the head of the Imperial and 109 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: Royal Court mineral Cabinet, weighed and recorded the stone, and 110 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: it remained with the Habsburg Lorraine dynasty in the Imperial 111 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: treasury of the Austrian Empire until the collapse of the 112 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: Empire itself. Speeding forward just a little bit, Charles the 113 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:34,680 Speaker 1: First was actually an unlikely emperor. His great uncle was 114 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: the emperor before him, and the next in line to 115 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: the throne was his great uncle's son, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 116 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: Maybe you've heard of him. Controversially, Franz Ferdinand had married 117 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: for love to a woman of scandalously low rank, and 118 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: so their union was only allowed on the condition that 119 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: it be a morganatic marriage, meaning that any of their 120 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: descendants forfeited the right to the throne, and so Franz 121 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: Ferdinand would be next in line, but after him would 122 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: be Franz's nephew, Charles, who had married the perfectly respectable 123 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: Princess Zita of Bourbon Parma. Zita's pedigree was stellar. Her 124 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 1: mother was the daughter of the King of Portugal, and 125 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: her father was the Duke of Parma and also a 126 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: direct descendant of King Charles the tenth of France, although 127 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 1: just as her husband would eventually lose his throne, Zita's 128 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 1: father lost his duchy two before Zita was born, back 129 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:44,079 Speaker 1: when the duchy was annexed during the unification of Italy. 130 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: But Franz Ferdinand was in perfectly good health and Charles 131 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: and Zita didn't expect that they would becoming Emperor an 132 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: empress anytime soon. That changed when Franz Ferdinand and his 133 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: wife were shockingly assassinated in nineteen fourteen, and then the 134 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:06,200 Speaker 1: then Emperor Franz Joseph died at the age of eighty six. 135 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixteen, World War One erupted over Europe, and 136 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: Charles and Zida would be the final Emperor and Empress 137 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: of Austria at the end of World War One. When 138 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: Charles and his wife were ousted from Austria, Charles was 139 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 1: very careful not to use the word abdicate in his statement. 140 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: He still believed he was the rightful Emperor of Austria, 141 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: even though he acknowledged that the people now had the 142 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: right to choose for themselves what sort of government they wanted. 143 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: While the Austrian Parliament spoke and on April third, nineteen nineteen, 144 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: they passed the Habsburg Law, officially banishing the family, barring 145 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: Charles from ever returning to the country, and barring his 146 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: male descendants from Austria as well unless they renounced all 147 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: intentions of reclaiming the throne. The law also confiscated all 148 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: of the remaining property of the House of Habsburg Lorraine 149 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: that remained in Austria. Incidentally, in nineteen thirty five, that 150 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: law would be repealed and the family would technically be 151 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 1: given back its property, but then the Nazis would reintroduce 152 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 1: the law in nineteen thirty eight. The law would then 153 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,679 Speaker 1: stay in place with the Habsburg heirs band until nineteen 154 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: ninety five, when Austria was required to repeal parts of 155 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 1: it before joining the European Union because some of the 156 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: law violated international law. But of course Charles and his 157 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:42,199 Speaker 1: family didn't know about that entire saga to come. At 158 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: this point, they were in Switzerland in exile, heirs to 159 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: a defunct empire. In addition to being the now former 160 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: Emperor of Austria, Charles had also been the King of Hungary, 161 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: and he attempted multiple times to reclaim that throne, all unsuccessfully. 162 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: After his second failed attempt, Charles and Zita were arrested. 163 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: They were only able to make it safely to another 164 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: exile thanks to the intervention of King George the Fifth 165 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,679 Speaker 1: in England, who no doubt was still incredibly shaken up 166 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: by the brutal murders of his cousins, the Romanovs in 167 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 1: Russia and wanted to prevent any other royal heads from rolling. 168 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: George the Fifth provided a military escort to bring Charles 169 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: and Zita safely to the very fortified and isolated Portuguese 170 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:44,559 Speaker 1: island of Madeira. Their children joined them soon after. Charles 171 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: would die on the island of a cold that developed 172 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:51,680 Speaker 1: into pneumonia. Zita, who at that time was pregnant with 173 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:56,319 Speaker 1: their eighth child, was present at her husband's bedside when 174 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:01,680 Speaker 1: he passed away at age thirty four. Zita, just twenty 175 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: nine years old, was now widowed with almost eight children. 176 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: Alfonso the thirteenth of Spain allowed her and her family 177 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 1: to come to Spain, and so she settled in the 178 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: palace of Urubaran on the Bay of Biscay, where she 179 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: lived on limited finances for the next six years, while 180 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: educating her by this point eight children at home. Eventually, 181 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,960 Speaker 1: the family moved to Belgium in order to be closer 182 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: to some Habsburg cousins, but any semblance of comfort or 183 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:37,320 Speaker 1: the promise of in the restored future was cut short 184 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty when Belgium was invaded by the Nazis. 185 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: Zita's son Otto was declared an enemy of the state 186 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: by the Nazis because he had tried to help the 187 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:53,680 Speaker 1: Austrian Republic resist the Third Reich. Their castle was hit 188 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: by German bombers and the family managed to flee, first 189 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: to France, then to the Spanish border. Because Zeita of 190 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: Bourbon Parma was directly descended from Portuguese citizens, they were 191 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 1: able to get Portuguese passports, but they wouldn't find safety 192 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:15,199 Speaker 1: in Portugal either. The ruler of Portugal informed Zita's son 193 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: that Hitler had demanded his extradition. It was the United 194 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: States who would help them, this time, offering them visas 195 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: and allowing the family to arrive via ship to New 196 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: York City. Eventually, they all settled in Quebec, which was 197 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: fairly conveniencing as everyone in the family spoke French and 198 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: the younger children didn't actually know English. Yet. That was 199 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: where they stayed for years, living in Quebec, with Zita 200 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: never remarrying, and they stayed there until nineteen fifty two, 201 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: when Zita moved to Luxembourg to look after her own mother, 202 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: who was still astonishingly alive in her nineties. A Swiss 203 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 1: bishop offered Zita use of a residence that he managed, 204 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 1: where she would stay for the rest of her life, 205 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 1: entertaining her massive family at the manor house and praying 206 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 1: at a nearby chapel. Zita was allowed to return to 207 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: Austria for the first time in sixty years in nineteen 208 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 1: eighty two, a woman who had been born into royalty 209 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: and seen the remnants of dynasty torn down around her 210 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: in real time. Zita died in nineteen eighty nine at 211 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 1: age ninety six, and the secret of what happened to 212 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: the priceless diamond that had once been in her possession 213 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: died with her, or so we thought. On November six, 214 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, the New York Times announced that the 215 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 1: Florentine diamond had been found, well, not actually found, because 216 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: something can't be found if it was never lost in 217 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: the first place. Turns out, the diamond wasn't lost or stolen, 218 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 1: or as pragmatic people had assumed, re cut and sold. 219 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: Zida had kept the Florentine diamond safe the entire time 220 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: and told only two people, her sons Robert and Rudolph, 221 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 1: that she had it. She made them promise to keep 222 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: the location of the diamond secret for one hundred years 223 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: after her husband Charles's death. It wasn't until twenty twenty 224 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: five that Robert and Rudolph's sons, the seventy year old 225 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: Lorenz von Habsburg Louthringen and the sixty seven year old 226 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: Simeon von Habsburg Lothringen, respectively told their cousin, Carl von 227 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: Hepsburg Lothringen, who spoke in an interview with The Times. 228 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: A Times reporter was with the family in the bank 229 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: vault in Canada, where he opened an old suitcase and 230 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: unveiled the myth Florentine Diamond, the first time any of 231 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: the cousins had actually seen the stone in person since 232 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: at least nineteen fifty three, the stone had been left 233 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: in the Quebec bank vault by Zita, not sold, not 234 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: cut up, not bargained with. Despite the fact that Zita 235 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: and her family had been pulled ragged through Europe and 236 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: their finances had been at times very meager. She held 237 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,919 Speaker 1: on to what she believed to be an important piece 238 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: of her family's history, keeping it intact, even if that 239 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: meant keeping it secret, and she did. That's the story 240 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,439 Speaker 1: of the Florentine Diamond. But keep listening after a brief 241 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: sponsor break to hear a little bit more about what's 242 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 1: going to happen to the diamond now. As I alluded 243 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,159 Speaker 1: to earlier in the episode, it's a bit of a 244 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: legal air ball whether the Habsburgs had absconded to Switzerland 245 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 1: with their own private jewels or jewels that technically belonged 246 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: to the state. The family maintains that the diamond is theirs, 247 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,400 Speaker 1: after all, it's been in the family for generations, and 248 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: when the Habsburg Law passed reclaiming all of the Habsburg 249 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,919 Speaker 1: property in Austria, the jewels were already out of the country. Now, 250 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: according to The New York Times in December of twenty 251 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: twenty five, the Austrian government has put together a commission 252 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: to see if they can get to the bottom of 253 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 1: whether they do still have any claim to the Florentine 254 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: Diamond or the other jewels that had been hidden in 255 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: the secret Quebec Cash for their part. The family has 256 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: announced their wishes that the diamond be displayed at a 257 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: museum in Canada as thanks for welcoming their family. It 258 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 1: seems a win for history lovers that no matter where 259 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: the diamond ends up, it will be on public display, 260 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: not sold, not cut up, and no longer hidden. Noble 261 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: Blood is a production of iHeart Radio and Grim and 262 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:25,159 Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me 263 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, 264 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Milani. The show is 265 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima 266 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: il KLi and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and 267 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:50,320 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 268 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.