WEBVTT - The Missing Diamond in Case XIII

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm

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<v Speaker 1>and Mild from Aaron Mankie listener Discretion advised the empire

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<v Speaker 1>was collapsing around him, but Count Leopold Burke told had

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<v Speaker 1>a job to do. It was November one, nineteen eighteen,

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<v Speaker 1>the tail end of World War One and the end

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<v Speaker 1>of the Austrian Empire. The Emperor Charles the First knew

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<v Speaker 1>that his days were numbered and that he and his

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<v Speaker 1>family needed to leave the country as soon as possible,

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<v Speaker 1>and so he had sent Count Leopold, the Lord Chamberlain,

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<v Speaker 1>down to the Imperial Treasury. The display of crown jewels

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<v Speaker 1>was staggeringly impressive. This is the Habsburg dynasty, for goodness sake.

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<v Speaker 1>The display cases boasted glittering crowns, dripping pearls, and diamonds

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<v Speaker 1>so large that they look fake. There were jewelry sets

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<v Speaker 1>that had belonged to some of the most famous women

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<v Speaker 1>in history, Empress Maria Teresa, Empress Elizabeth Marie Antoinette, and

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<v Speaker 1>the Forgive Me Crown jewel of the collection was genuinely staggering.

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<v Speaker 1>The Florentine Diamond, a stunning one hundred and thirty seven

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<v Speaker 1>carrot stone with a century's long pedigree. With the future

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<v Speaker 1>breathing down his neck, Count Leopold emptied the display case

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<v Speaker 1>numbered thirteen, wrapping the priceless jewels in paper and packing

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<v Speaker 1>them into two bags. That very night, the Count boarded

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<v Speaker 1>a train for Switzerland, where the Emperor Charles, his wife Zita,

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<v Speaker 1>and their family would begin their exile. Fifty three jewelry

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<v Speaker 1>pieces were taken out of Austria. Fourteen of those were

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<v Speaker 1>from the Empress Zita's private collector, while the rest were

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<v Speaker 1>historical treasures that belonged to the Habsburg Lorraine dynastic household.

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<v Speaker 1>But the question of who most of those jewels actually

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<v Speaker 1>belonged to turned out to be a slightly complicated one.

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<v Speaker 1>After all, technically, the crown jewels of an empire aren't

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<v Speaker 1>really the private property of each individual reigning monarch. They

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<v Speaker 1>belonged to the country itself, and that certainly an argument

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<v Speaker 1>that the new Austrian Republic would try to make, arguing

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<v Speaker 1>at different points over the next century that the jewels

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<v Speaker 1>had been removed illegally, even though at the time the

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<v Speaker 1>imperial family had cataloged them as their personal possessions. The

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<v Speaker 1>display case thirteen would be left empty in the Royal

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<v Speaker 1>Treasury a reminder of the treasures that had been taken.

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<v Speaker 1>But you can't argue about who owns something that nobody

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<v Speaker 1>can confined. Because after nineteen eighteen, the Florentine diamond disappeared,

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<v Speaker 1>vanished with no record. Was it lost, sold, stolen. The

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<v Speaker 1>most pragmatic theory is that it was cut into smaller,

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<v Speaker 1>still probably jaw droppingly huge diamonds and sold off piecemeal.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people imagined that a servant had stolen the jewels

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<v Speaker 1>away to South America, but the mystery of the missing

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<v Speaker 1>Florentine diamond would go on to inspire novels and operas,

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<v Speaker 1>captivating writers and creatives all imagining how a historic one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and thirty seven carrot diamond might have disappeared without

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<v Speaker 1>a trace. In the end, it would take more than

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred years, but the Florentine diamond would be found

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<v Speaker 1>in a place that nobody had expected. I'm Danish Schwartz

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<v Speaker 1>and this is noble blood. The Florentine diamond is a

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<v Speaker 1>genuinely stunning stone. As I mentioned, it's massive, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>also a unique and captivating color. It's yellowish, slightly golden,

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<v Speaker 1>once described as wine mixed tenfold with water. Its documented

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<v Speaker 1>history begins in the seventeenth century with the Medici in Florence,

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<v Speaker 1>but there are a number of stories attempting to trace

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<v Speaker 1>its earlier provenance. According to one story, the original stone

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<v Speaker 1>was cut for Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy,

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<v Speaker 1>who had been allegedly wearing it when he fought in

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<v Speaker 1>the Battle of Nancy in fourteen seventy seven. Spoiler alert

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<v Speaker 1>for a centuries old battle. But things did not go

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<v Speaker 1>well for Charles, clearly if he did have the precursor

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<v Speaker 1>to the Florentine eye, and it wasn't a good luck charm.

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<v Speaker 1>Charles and his men were brutally defeated, and Charles was

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<v Speaker 1>killed on the battlefield, although his mutilated body wasn't actually

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<v Speaker 1>found until two days later. As the story goes, a

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<v Speaker 1>scavenger had by that point already plucked the diamond off

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<v Speaker 1>his body in the dirt, and, thinking that the stone

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<v Speaker 1>must have just been cut, Glass, sold it for two

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<v Speaker 1>francs to somebody who had all of the luck that

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<v Speaker 1>Charles the Bold didn't. The stone then eventually was sold

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<v Speaker 1>to Ludovico Sforza, and then by way of the prominent

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<v Speaker 1>Fugar family eventually became a treasure of the Medici, with

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<v Speaker 1>a pit stop in the collection of Pope Julius the

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<v Speaker 1>second along the way. An alternate version of the history

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<v Speaker 1>of the diamond, if it hadn't been fighting in the

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<v Speaker 1>Burgundian Wars, is that instead of France, it had been

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<v Speaker 1>over in southern India, and in the fifteen hundreds it

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<v Speaker 1>was purchased from the King of Vijayanagar by the Portuguese

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<v Speaker 1>governor of Goa, who then deposited the diamond with Jesuits

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<v Speaker 1>in Rome until it was eventually purchased by Ferdinando the

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<v Speaker 1>First de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Ferdinando the First

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<v Speaker 1>gave the massive stone to his son Cosimo, who commissioned

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<v Speaker 1>a Venetian gem cutter working in Florence to refine it.

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<v Speaker 1>However it got there, we know that here, with Ferdinando

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<v Speaker 1>and Cossimo, is where the confirmed journey of our stone

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<v Speaker 1>really begins, hence its name the Florentine Diamond. When Cossimo died,

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<v Speaker 1>the records describe the massive diamond surrounded by a band

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<v Speaker 1>of smaller diamonds, as a gift from his late father.

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<v Speaker 1>Cossimo would eventually gift the stone to his own son,

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<v Speaker 1>Ferdinando the Second. He was the owner of the diamond

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<v Speaker 1>when it was described by a friend, traveler and jeweler

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<v Speaker 1>named Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who saw the stone with his

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<v Speaker 1>own eyes in sixteen fifty seven. But the diamond would

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<v Speaker 1>leave Florence eventually, Dynastic families fall, but diamonds are forever,

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<v Speaker 1>and the last of the male medici Aires died in

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen thirty seven. The diamond then went to the next

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<v Speaker 1>Grand Duke of Tuscany, the French Duke Francis the third

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<v Speaker 1>Stephen of Lorraine and his wife Maria Teresa of Austria.

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<v Speaker 1>They were the founders of the massive Habsburg Lorraine dynasty,

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<v Speaker 1>possibly most famous to most audiences as the parents of

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<v Speaker 1>Marie Antoinette, and with them the diamond made its way

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<v Speaker 1>to the Austrian treasury. Francis Stephen wore it in his

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<v Speaker 1>crown when he became the Holy Roman Emperor. The diamond

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<v Speaker 1>would eventually be given a new setting in a hat

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<v Speaker 1>agress or an ornament meant to stick out of a

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<v Speaker 1>hat like a feather. I imagine a very very heavy feather.

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<v Speaker 1>In eighteen sixty five, the head of the Imperial and

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<v Speaker 1>Royal Court mineral Cabinet, weighed and recorded the stone, and

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<v Speaker 1>it remained with the Habsburg Lorraine dynasty in the Imperial

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<v Speaker 1>treasury of the Austrian Empire until the collapse of the

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<v Speaker 1>Empire itself. Speeding forward just a little bit, Charles the

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<v Speaker 1>First was actually an unlikely emperor. His great uncle was

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<v Speaker 1>the emperor before him, and the next in line to

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<v Speaker 1>the throne was his great uncle's son, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you've heard of him. Controversially, Franz Ferdinand had married

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<v Speaker 1>for love to a woman of scandalously low rank, and

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<v Speaker 1>so their union was only allowed on the condition that

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<v Speaker 1>it be a morganatic marriage, meaning that any of their

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<v Speaker 1>descendants forfeited the right to the throne, and so Franz

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<v Speaker 1>Ferdinand would be next in line, but after him would

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<v Speaker 1>be Franz's nephew, Charles, who had married the perfectly respectable

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<v Speaker 1>Princess Zita of Bourbon Parma. Zita's pedigree was stellar. Her

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<v Speaker 1>mother was the daughter of the King of Portugal, and

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<v Speaker 1>her father was the Duke of Parma and also a

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<v Speaker 1>direct descendant of King Charles the tenth of France, although

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<v Speaker 1>just as her husband would eventually lose his throne, Zita's

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<v Speaker 1>father lost his duchy two before Zita was born, back

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<v Speaker 1>when the duchy was annexed during the unification of Italy.

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<v Speaker 1>But Franz Ferdinand was in perfectly good health and Charles

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<v Speaker 1>and Zita didn't expect that they would becoming Emperor an

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<v Speaker 1>empress anytime soon. That changed when Franz Ferdinand and his

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<v Speaker 1>wife were shockingly assassinated in nineteen fourteen, and then the

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<v Speaker 1>then Emperor Franz Joseph died at the age of eighty six.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen sixteen, World War One erupted over Europe, and

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<v Speaker 1>Charles and Zida would be the final Emperor and Empress

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<v Speaker 1>of Austria at the end of World War One. When

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<v Speaker 1>Charles and his wife were ousted from Austria, Charles was

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<v Speaker 1>very careful not to use the word abdicate in his statement.

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<v Speaker 1>He still believed he was the rightful Emperor of Austria,

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<v Speaker 1>even though he acknowledged that the people now had the

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<v Speaker 1>right to choose for themselves what sort of government they wanted.

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<v Speaker 1>While the Austrian Parliament spoke and on April third, nineteen nineteen,

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<v Speaker 1>they passed the Habsburg Law, officially banishing the family, barring

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<v Speaker 1>Charles from ever returning to the country, and barring his

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<v Speaker 1>male descendants from Austria as well unless they renounced all

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<v Speaker 1>intentions of reclaiming the throne. The law also confiscated all

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<v Speaker 1>of the remaining property of the House of Habsburg Lorraine

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<v Speaker 1>that remained in Austria. Incidentally, in nineteen thirty five, that

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<v Speaker 1>law would be repealed and the family would technically be

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<v Speaker 1>given back its property, but then the Nazis would reintroduce

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<v Speaker 1>the law in nineteen thirty eight. The law would then

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<v Speaker 1>stay in place with the Habsburg heirs band until nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety five, when Austria was required to repeal parts of

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<v Speaker 1>it before joining the European Union because some of the

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<v Speaker 1>law violated international law. But of course Charles and his

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<v Speaker 1>family didn't know about that entire saga to come. At

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<v Speaker 1>this point, they were in Switzerland in exile, heirs to

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<v Speaker 1>a defunct empire. In addition to being the now former

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<v Speaker 1>Emperor of Austria, Charles had also been the King of Hungary,

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<v Speaker 1>and he attempted multiple times to reclaim that throne, all unsuccessfully.

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<v Speaker 1>After his second failed attempt, Charles and Zita were arrested.

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<v Speaker 1>They were only able to make it safely to another

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<v Speaker 1>exile thanks to the intervention of King George the Fifth

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<v Speaker 1>in England, who no doubt was still incredibly shaken up

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<v Speaker 1>by the brutal murders of his cousins, the Romanovs in

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<v Speaker 1>Russia and wanted to prevent any other royal heads from rolling.

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<v Speaker 1>George the Fifth provided a military escort to bring Charles

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<v Speaker 1>and Zita safely to the very fortified and isolated Portuguese

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<v Speaker 1>island of Madeira. Their children joined them soon after. Charles

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<v Speaker 1>would die on the island of a cold that developed

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<v Speaker 1>into pneumonia. Zita, who at that time was pregnant with

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<v Speaker 1>their eighth child, was present at her husband's bedside when

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<v Speaker 1>he passed away at age thirty four. Zita, just twenty

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<v Speaker 1>nine years old, was now widowed with almost eight children.

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<v Speaker 1>Alfonso the thirteenth of Spain allowed her and her family

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<v Speaker 1>to come to Spain, and so she settled in the

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<v Speaker 1>palace of Urubaran on the Bay of Biscay, where she

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<v Speaker 1>lived on limited finances for the next six years, while

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<v Speaker 1>educating her by this point eight children at home. Eventually,

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<v Speaker 1>the family moved to Belgium in order to be closer

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<v Speaker 1>to some Habsburg cousins, but any semblance of comfort or

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<v Speaker 1>the promise of in the restored future was cut short

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen forty when Belgium was invaded by the Nazis.

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<v Speaker 1>Zita's son Otto was declared an enemy of the state

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<v Speaker 1>by the Nazis because he had tried to help the

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<v Speaker 1>Austrian Republic resist the Third Reich. Their castle was hit

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<v Speaker 1>by German bombers and the family managed to flee, first

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<v Speaker 1>to France, then to the Spanish border. Because Zeita of

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<v Speaker 1>Bourbon Parma was directly descended from Portuguese citizens, they were

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<v Speaker 1>able to get Portuguese passports, but they wouldn't find safety

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<v Speaker 1>in Portugal either. The ruler of Portugal informed Zita's son

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<v Speaker 1>that Hitler had demanded his extradition. It was the United

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<v Speaker 1>States who would help them, this time, offering them visas

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<v Speaker 1>and allowing the family to arrive via ship to New

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<v Speaker 1>York City. Eventually, they all settled in Quebec, which was

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<v Speaker 1>fairly conveniencing as everyone in the family spoke French and

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<v Speaker 1>the younger children didn't actually know English. Yet. That was

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<v Speaker 1>where they stayed for years, living in Quebec, with Zita

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<v Speaker 1>never remarrying, and they stayed there until nineteen fifty two,

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<v Speaker 1>when Zita moved to Luxembourg to look after her own mother,

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<v Speaker 1>who was still astonishingly alive in her nineties. A Swiss

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<v Speaker 1>bishop offered Zita use of a residence that he managed,

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<v Speaker 1>where she would stay for the rest of her life,

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<v Speaker 1>entertaining her massive family at the manor house and praying

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<v Speaker 1>at a nearby chapel. Zita was allowed to return to

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<v Speaker 1>Austria for the first time in sixty years in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighty two, a woman who had been born into royalty

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<v Speaker 1>and seen the remnants of dynasty torn down around her

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<v Speaker 1>in real time. Zita died in nineteen eighty nine at

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<v Speaker 1>age ninety six, and the secret of what happened to

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<v Speaker 1>the priceless diamond that had once been in her possession

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<v Speaker 1>died with her, or so we thought. On November six,

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty five, the New York Times announced that the

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<v Speaker 1>Florentine diamond had been found, well, not actually found, because

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<v Speaker 1>something can't be found if it was never lost in

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<v Speaker 1>the first place. Turns out, the diamond wasn't lost or stolen,

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<v Speaker 1>or as pragmatic people had assumed, re cut and sold.

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<v Speaker 1>Zida had kept the Florentine diamond safe the entire time

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<v Speaker 1>and told only two people, her sons Robert and Rudolph,

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<v Speaker 1>that she had it. She made them promise to keep

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<v Speaker 1>the location of the diamond secret for one hundred years

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<v Speaker 1>after her husband Charles's death. It wasn't until twenty twenty

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<v Speaker 1>five that Robert and Rudolph's sons, the seventy year old

0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.920
<v Speaker 1>Lorenz von Habsburg Louthringen and the sixty seven year old

0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:46.840
<v Speaker 1>Simeon von Habsburg Lothringen, respectively told their cousin, Carl von

0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:51.160
<v Speaker 1>Hepsburg Lothringen, who spoke in an interview with The Times.

0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.480
<v Speaker 1>A Times reporter was with the family in the bank

0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:58.400
<v Speaker 1>vault in Canada, where he opened an old suitcase and

0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:03.960
<v Speaker 1>unveiled the myth Florentine Diamond, the first time any of

0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:07.600
<v Speaker 1>the cousins had actually seen the stone in person since

0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:11.560
<v Speaker 1>at least nineteen fifty three, the stone had been left

0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:15.760
<v Speaker 1>in the Quebec bank vault by Zita, not sold, not

0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:19.840
<v Speaker 1>cut up, not bargained with. Despite the fact that Zita

0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:23.320
<v Speaker 1>and her family had been pulled ragged through Europe and

0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:27.480
<v Speaker 1>their finances had been at times very meager. She held

0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.919
<v Speaker 1>on to what she believed to be an important piece

0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:35.480
<v Speaker 1>of her family's history, keeping it intact, even if that

0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:42.960
<v Speaker 1>meant keeping it secret, and she did. That's the story

0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:46.439
<v Speaker 1>of the Florentine Diamond. But keep listening after a brief

0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:49.480
<v Speaker 1>sponsor break to hear a little bit more about what's

0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:59.720
<v Speaker 1>going to happen to the diamond now. As I alluded

0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:02.159
<v Speaker 1>to earlier in the episode, it's a bit of a

0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:06.320
<v Speaker 1>legal air ball whether the Habsburgs had absconded to Switzerland

0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:10.440
<v Speaker 1>with their own private jewels or jewels that technically belonged

0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:14.760
<v Speaker 1>to the state. The family maintains that the diamond is theirs,

0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:18.400
<v Speaker 1>after all, it's been in the family for generations, and

0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:22.399
<v Speaker 1>when the Habsburg Law passed reclaiming all of the Habsburg

0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:26.919
<v Speaker 1>property in Austria, the jewels were already out of the country. Now,

0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:30.080
<v Speaker 1>according to The New York Times in December of twenty

0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:34.040
<v Speaker 1>twenty five, the Austrian government has put together a commission

0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:36.320
<v Speaker 1>to see if they can get to the bottom of

0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:39.919
<v Speaker 1>whether they do still have any claim to the Florentine

0:18:40.000 --> 0:18:43.080
<v Speaker 1>Diamond or the other jewels that had been hidden in

0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:47.680
<v Speaker 1>the secret Quebec Cash for their part. The family has

0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:51.520
<v Speaker 1>announced their wishes that the diamond be displayed at a

0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:56.320
<v Speaker 1>museum in Canada as thanks for welcoming their family. It

0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.680
<v Speaker 1>seems a win for history lovers that no matter where

0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:03.320
<v Speaker 1>the diamond ends up, it will be on public display,

0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:17.960
<v Speaker 1>not sold, not cut up, and no longer hidden. Noble

0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:21.520
<v Speaker 1>Blood is a production of iHeart Radio and Grim and

0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:25.159
<v Speaker 1>Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me

0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:30.600
<v Speaker 1>Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick,

0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:34.919
<v Speaker 1>Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Milani. The show is

0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:40.040
<v Speaker 1>edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima

0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:44.679
<v Speaker 1>il KLi and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and

0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:50.320
<v Speaker 1>Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:55.920
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.