Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankie listener Discretion advised the empire
Speaker 1: was collapsing around him, but Count Leopold Burke told had
Speaker 1: a job to do. It was November one, nineteen eighteen,
Speaker 1: the tail end of World War One and the end
Speaker 1: of the Austrian Empire. The Emperor Charles the First knew
Speaker 1: that his days were numbered and that he and his
Speaker 1: family needed to leave the country as soon as possible,
Speaker 1: and so he had sent Count Leopold, the Lord Chamberlain,
Speaker 1: down to the Imperial Treasury. The display of crown jewels
Speaker 1: was staggeringly impressive. This is the Habsburg dynasty, for goodness sake.
Speaker 1: The display cases boasted glittering crowns, dripping pearls, and diamonds
Speaker 1: so large that they look fake. There were jewelry sets
Speaker 1: that had belonged to some of the most famous women
Speaker 1: in history, Empress Maria Teresa, Empress Elizabeth Marie Antoinette, and
Speaker 1: the Forgive Me Crown jewel of the collection was genuinely staggering.
Speaker 1: The Florentine Diamond, a stunning one hundred and thirty seven
Speaker 1: carrot stone with a century's long pedigree. With the future
Speaker 1: breathing down his neck, Count Leopold emptied the display case
Speaker 1: numbered thirteen, wrapping the priceless jewels in paper and packing
Speaker 1: them into two bags. That very night, the Count boarded
Speaker 1: a train for Switzerland, where the Emperor Charles, his wife Zita,
Speaker 1: and their family would begin their exile. Fifty three jewelry
Speaker 1: pieces were taken out of Austria. Fourteen of those were
Speaker 1: from the Empress Zita's private collector, while the rest were
Speaker 1: historical treasures that belonged to the Habsburg Lorraine dynastic household.
Speaker 1: But the question of who most of those jewels actually
Speaker 1: belonged to turned out to be a slightly complicated one.
Speaker 1: After all, technically, the crown jewels of an empire aren't
Speaker 1: really the private property of each individual reigning monarch. They
Speaker 1: belonged to the country itself, and that certainly an argument
Speaker 1: that the new Austrian Republic would try to make, arguing
Speaker 1: at different points over the next century that the jewels
Speaker 1: had been removed illegally, even though at the time the
Speaker 1: imperial family had cataloged them as their personal possessions. The
Speaker 1: display case thirteen would be left empty in the Royal
Speaker 1: Treasury a reminder of the treasures that had been taken.
Speaker 1: But you can't argue about who owns something that nobody
Speaker 1: can confined. Because after nineteen eighteen, the Florentine diamond disappeared,
Speaker 1: vanished with no record. Was it lost, sold, stolen. The
Speaker 1: most pragmatic theory is that it was cut into smaller,
Speaker 1: still probably jaw droppingly huge diamonds and sold off piecemeal.
Speaker 1: Some people imagined that a servant had stolen the jewels
Speaker 1: away to South America, but the mystery of the missing
Speaker 1: Florentine diamond would go on to inspire novels and operas,
Speaker 1: captivating writers and creatives all imagining how a historic one
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty seven carrot diamond might have disappeared without
Speaker 1: a trace. In the end, it would take more than
Speaker 1: one hundred years, but the Florentine diamond would be found
Speaker 1: in a place that nobody had expected. I'm Danish Schwartz
Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. The Florentine diamond is a
Speaker 1: genuinely stunning stone. As I mentioned, it's massive, but it's
Speaker 1: also a unique and captivating color. It's yellowish, slightly golden,
Speaker 1: once described as wine mixed tenfold with water. Its documented
Speaker 1: history begins in the seventeenth century with the Medici in Florence,
Speaker 1: but there are a number of stories attempting to trace
Speaker 1: its earlier provenance. According to one story, the original stone
Speaker 1: was cut for Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy,
Speaker 1: who had been allegedly wearing it when he fought in
Speaker 1: the Battle of Nancy in fourteen seventy seven. Spoiler alert
Speaker 1: for a centuries old battle. But things did not go
Speaker 1: well for Charles, clearly if he did have the precursor
Speaker 1: to the Florentine eye, and it wasn't a good luck charm.
Speaker 1: Charles and his men were brutally defeated, and Charles was
Speaker 1: killed on the battlefield, although his mutilated body wasn't actually
Speaker 1: found until two days later. As the story goes, a
Speaker 1: scavenger had by that point already plucked the diamond off
Speaker 1: his body in the dirt, and, thinking that the stone
Speaker 1: must have just been cut, Glass, sold it for two
Speaker 1: francs to somebody who had all of the luck that
Speaker 1: Charles the Bold didn't. The stone then eventually was sold
Speaker 1: to Ludovico Sforza, and then by way of the prominent
Speaker 1: Fugar family eventually became a treasure of the Medici, with
Speaker 1: a pit stop in the collection of Pope Julius the
Speaker 1: second along the way. An alternate version of the history
Speaker 1: of the diamond, if it hadn't been fighting in the
Speaker 1: Burgundian Wars, is that instead of France, it had been
Speaker 1: over in southern India, and in the fifteen hundreds it
Speaker 1: was purchased from the King of Vijayanagar by the Portuguese
Speaker 1: governor of Goa, who then deposited the diamond with Jesuits
Speaker 1: in Rome until it was eventually purchased by Ferdinando the
Speaker 1: First de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Ferdinando the First
Speaker 1: gave the massive stone to his son Cosimo, who commissioned
Speaker 1: a Venetian gem cutter working in Florence to refine it.
Speaker 1: However it got there, we know that here, with Ferdinando
Speaker 1: and Cossimo, is where the confirmed journey of our stone
Speaker 1: really begins, hence its name the Florentine Diamond. When Cossimo died,
Speaker 1: the records describe the massive diamond surrounded by a band
Speaker 1: of smaller diamonds, as a gift from his late father.
Speaker 1: Cossimo would eventually gift the stone to his own son,
Speaker 1: Ferdinando the Second. He was the owner of the diamond
Speaker 1: when it was described by a friend, traveler and jeweler
Speaker 1: named Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who saw the stone with his
Speaker 1: own eyes in sixteen fifty seven. But the diamond would
Speaker 1: leave Florence eventually, Dynastic families fall, but diamonds are forever,
Speaker 1: and the last of the male medici Aires died in
Speaker 1: seventeen thirty seven. The diamond then went to the next
Speaker 1: Grand Duke of Tuscany, the French Duke Francis the third
Speaker 1: Stephen of Lorraine and his wife Maria Teresa of Austria.
Speaker 1: They were the founders of the massive Habsburg Lorraine dynasty,
Speaker 1: possibly most famous to most audiences as the parents of
Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette, and with them the diamond made its way
Speaker 1: to the Austrian treasury. Francis Stephen wore it in his
Speaker 1: crown when he became the Holy Roman Emperor. The diamond
Speaker 1: would eventually be given a new setting in a hat
Speaker 1: agress or an ornament meant to stick out of a
Speaker 1: hat like a feather. I imagine a very very heavy feather.
Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty five, the head of the Imperial and
Speaker 1: Royal Court mineral Cabinet, weighed and recorded the stone, and
Speaker 1: it remained with the Habsburg Lorraine dynasty in the Imperial
Speaker 1: treasury of the Austrian Empire until the collapse of the
Speaker 1: Empire itself. Speeding forward just a little bit, Charles the
Speaker 1: First was actually an unlikely emperor. His great uncle was
Speaker 1: the emperor before him, and the next in line to
Speaker 1: the throne was his great uncle's son, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Speaker 1: Maybe you've heard of him. Controversially, Franz Ferdinand had married
Speaker 1: for love to a woman of scandalously low rank, and
Speaker 1: so their union was only allowed on the condition that
Speaker 1: it be a morganatic marriage, meaning that any of their
Speaker 1: descendants forfeited the right to the throne, and so Franz
Speaker 1: Ferdinand would be next in line, but after him would
Speaker 1: be Franz's nephew, Charles, who had married the perfectly respectable
Speaker 1: Princess Zita of Bourbon Parma. Zita's pedigree was stellar. Her
Speaker 1: mother was the daughter of the King of Portugal, and
Speaker 1: her father was the Duke of Parma and also a
Speaker 1: direct descendant of King Charles the tenth of France, although
Speaker 1: just as her husband would eventually lose his throne, Zita's
Speaker 1: father lost his duchy two before Zita was born, back
Speaker 1: when the duchy was annexed during the unification of Italy.
Speaker 1: But Franz Ferdinand was in perfectly good health and Charles
Speaker 1: and Zita didn't expect that they would becoming Emperor an
Speaker 1: empress anytime soon. That changed when Franz Ferdinand and his
Speaker 1: wife were shockingly assassinated in nineteen fourteen, and then the
Speaker 1: then Emperor Franz Joseph died at the age of eighty six.
Speaker 1: In nineteen sixteen, World War One erupted over Europe, and
Speaker 1: Charles and Zida would be the final Emperor and Empress
Speaker 1: of Austria at the end of World War One. When
Speaker 1: Charles and his wife were ousted from Austria, Charles was
Speaker 1: very careful not to use the word abdicate in his statement.
Speaker 1: He still believed he was the rightful Emperor of Austria,
Speaker 1: even though he acknowledged that the people now had the
Speaker 1: right to choose for themselves what sort of government they wanted.
Speaker 1: While the Austrian Parliament spoke and on April third, nineteen nineteen,
Speaker 1: they passed the Habsburg Law, officially banishing the family, barring
Speaker 1: Charles from ever returning to the country, and barring his
Speaker 1: male descendants from Austria as well unless they renounced all
Speaker 1: intentions of reclaiming the throne. The law also confiscated all
Speaker 1: of the remaining property of the House of Habsburg Lorraine
Speaker 1: that remained in Austria. Incidentally, in nineteen thirty five, that
Speaker 1: law would be repealed and the family would technically be
Speaker 1: given back its property, but then the Nazis would reintroduce
Speaker 1: the law in nineteen thirty eight. The law would then
Speaker 1: stay in place with the Habsburg heirs band until nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety five, when Austria was required to repeal parts of
Speaker 1: it before joining the European Union because some of the
Speaker 1: law violated international law. But of course Charles and his
Speaker 1: family didn't know about that entire saga to come. At
Speaker 1: this point, they were in Switzerland in exile, heirs to
Speaker 1: a defunct empire. In addition to being the now former
Speaker 1: Emperor of Austria, Charles had also been the King of Hungary,
Speaker 1: and he attempted multiple times to reclaim that throne, all unsuccessfully.
Speaker 1: After his second failed attempt, Charles and Zita were arrested.
Speaker 1: They were only able to make it safely to another
Speaker 1: exile thanks to the intervention of King George the Fifth
Speaker 1: in England, who no doubt was still incredibly shaken up
Speaker 1: by the brutal murders of his cousins, the Romanovs in
Speaker 1: Russia and wanted to prevent any other royal heads from rolling.
Speaker 1: George the Fifth provided a military escort to bring Charles
Speaker 1: and Zita safely to the very fortified and isolated Portuguese
Speaker 1: island of Madeira. Their children joined them soon after. Charles
Speaker 1: would die on the island of a cold that developed
Speaker 1: into pneumonia. Zita, who at that time was pregnant with
Speaker 1: their eighth child, was present at her husband's bedside when
Speaker 1: he passed away at age thirty four. Zita, just twenty
Speaker 1: nine years old, was now widowed with almost eight children.
Speaker 1: Alfonso the thirteenth of Spain allowed her and her family
Speaker 1: to come to Spain, and so she settled in the
Speaker 1: palace of Urubaran on the Bay of Biscay, where she
Speaker 1: lived on limited finances for the next six years, while
Speaker 1: educating her by this point eight children at home. Eventually,
Speaker 1: the family moved to Belgium in order to be closer
Speaker 1: to some Habsburg cousins, but any semblance of comfort or
Speaker 1: the promise of in the restored future was cut short
Speaker 1: in nineteen forty when Belgium was invaded by the Nazis.
Speaker 1: Zita's son Otto was declared an enemy of the state
Speaker 1: by the Nazis because he had tried to help the
Speaker 1: Austrian Republic resist the Third Reich. Their castle was hit
Speaker 1: by German bombers and the family managed to flee, first
Speaker 1: to France, then to the Spanish border. Because Zeita of
Speaker 1: Bourbon Parma was directly descended from Portuguese citizens, they were
Speaker 1: able to get Portuguese passports, but they wouldn't find safety
Speaker 1: in Portugal either. The ruler of Portugal informed Zita's son
Speaker 1: that Hitler had demanded his extradition. It was the United
Speaker 1: States who would help them, this time, offering them visas
Speaker 1: and allowing the family to arrive via ship to New
Speaker 1: York City. Eventually, they all settled in Quebec, which was
Speaker 1: fairly conveniencing as everyone in the family spoke French and
Speaker 1: the younger children didn't actually know English. Yet. That was
Speaker 1: where they stayed for years, living in Quebec, with Zita
Speaker 1: never remarrying, and they stayed there until nineteen fifty two,
Speaker 1: when Zita moved to Luxembourg to look after her own mother,
Speaker 1: who was still astonishingly alive in her nineties. A Swiss
Speaker 1: bishop offered Zita use of a residence that he managed,
Speaker 1: where she would stay for the rest of her life,
Speaker 1: entertaining her massive family at the manor house and praying
Speaker 1: at a nearby chapel. Zita was allowed to return to
Speaker 1: Austria for the first time in sixty years in nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty two, a woman who had been born into royalty
Speaker 1: and seen the remnants of dynasty torn down around her
Speaker 1: in real time. Zita died in nineteen eighty nine at
Speaker 1: age ninety six, and the secret of what happened to
Speaker 1: the priceless diamond that had once been in her possession
Speaker 1: died with her, or so we thought. On November six,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, the New York Times announced that the
Speaker 1: Florentine diamond had been found, well, not actually found, because
Speaker 1: something can't be found if it was never lost in
Speaker 1: the first place. Turns out, the diamond wasn't lost or stolen,
Speaker 1: or as pragmatic people had assumed, re cut and sold.
Speaker 1: Zida had kept the Florentine diamond safe the entire time
Speaker 1: and told only two people, her sons Robert and Rudolph,
Speaker 1: that she had it. She made them promise to keep
Speaker 1: the location of the diamond secret for one hundred years
Speaker 1: after her husband Charles's death. It wasn't until twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five that Robert and Rudolph's sons, the seventy year old
Speaker 1: Lorenz von Habsburg Louthringen and the sixty seven year old
Speaker 1: Simeon von Habsburg Lothringen, respectively told their cousin, Carl von
Speaker 1: Hepsburg Lothringen, who spoke in an interview with The Times.
Speaker 1: A Times reporter was with the family in the bank
Speaker 1: vault in Canada, where he opened an old suitcase and
Speaker 1: unveiled the myth Florentine Diamond, the first time any of
Speaker 1: the cousins had actually seen the stone in person since
Speaker 1: at least nineteen fifty three, the stone had been left
Speaker 1: in the Quebec bank vault by Zita, not sold, not
Speaker 1: cut up, not bargained with. Despite the fact that Zita
Speaker 1: and her family had been pulled ragged through Europe and
Speaker 1: their finances had been at times very meager. She held
Speaker 1: on to what she believed to be an important piece
Speaker 1: of her family's history, keeping it intact, even if that
Speaker 1: meant keeping it secret, and she did. That's the story
Speaker 1: of the Florentine Diamond. But keep listening after a brief
Speaker 1: sponsor break to hear a little bit more about what's
Speaker 1: going to happen to the diamond now. As I alluded
Speaker 1: to earlier in the episode, it's a bit of a
Speaker 1: legal air ball whether the Habsburgs had absconded to Switzerland
Speaker 1: with their own private jewels or jewels that technically belonged
Speaker 1: to the state. The family maintains that the diamond is theirs,
Speaker 1: after all, it's been in the family for generations, and
Speaker 1: when the Habsburg Law passed reclaiming all of the Habsburg
Speaker 1: property in Austria, the jewels were already out of the country. Now,
Speaker 1: according to The New York Times in December of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five, the Austrian government has put together a commission
Speaker 1: to see if they can get to the bottom of
Speaker 1: whether they do still have any claim to the Florentine
Speaker 1: Diamond or the other jewels that had been hidden in
Speaker 1: the secret Quebec Cash for their part. The family has
Speaker 1: announced their wishes that the diamond be displayed at a
Speaker 1: museum in Canada as thanks for welcoming their family. It
Speaker 1: seems a win for history lovers that no matter where
Speaker 1: the diamond ends up, it will be on public display,
Speaker 1: not sold, not cut up, and no longer hidden. Noble
Speaker 1: Blood is a production of iHeart Radio and Grim and
Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me
Speaker 1: Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick,
Speaker 1: Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Milani. The show is
Speaker 1: edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima
Speaker 1: il KLi and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and
Speaker 1: Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.