Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey listener discretion advised, Hey,
Speaker 1: this is Danishwartz, the host of Noble Blood. I have
Speaker 1: just a few quick bits of housekeeping. So if you
Speaker 1: want to support the show, we have episode scripts and
Speaker 1: monthly bonus episodes up on our Patreon, which is linked
Speaker 1: in the bio. You also get exclusive stickers and cool merch.
Speaker 1: It's great. Join the Noble family. It's great. I'm there,
Speaker 1: talk to me, we can hang out. We also have
Speaker 1: amazing merch. I've seen fake merch around the internet, but
Speaker 1: the only actual merch that is like real for the
Speaker 1: show is on a website called d f t b
Speaker 1: a dot com and it's linked in the episode description.
Speaker 1: And the third piece of housekeeping is so I wrote
Speaker 1: a book called Anatomy a Love Story, which is about
Speaker 1: a surgeon in nineteen century Scotland, and its sequel, Immortality
Speaker 1: a Love Story, is coming out this February. Arry and
Speaker 1: pre orders are the most important thing that is in
Speaker 1: the book world right now, Like truly, I cannot express
Speaker 1: how every single book person in my life is like,
Speaker 1: please Dana, get pre orders and I'm like, I will try.
Speaker 1: I promise. So if you enjoy the storytelling on the show,
Speaker 1: or you think you would enjoy a sort of macabre
Speaker 1: story of you know, mayhem and surgery in nineteenth century
Speaker 1: Edinburgh and London in the sequel, check it out and
Speaker 1: maybe preorder that is also linked in the bio. As always,
Speaker 1: just thank you so much for listening. At two pm
Speaker 1: on July six seven, one of the porters in Dublin Castle,
Speaker 1: a man named William Stivey, was simply trying to do
Speaker 1: his job. On a typical day, his job meant catering
Speaker 1: to the requests of various of officials whose offices were
Speaker 1: scattered throughout castle grounds. But on this day, William Stevey
Speaker 1: had been given a task well outside his usual duties
Speaker 1: with a surprising lack of fanfare. Stevey had been handed
Speaker 1: a priceless royal artifact, a golden collar belonging to a
Speaker 1: former Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick,
Speaker 1: and he was given in order to return it to
Speaker 1: its safe in the Bedford Tower Library. It was a
Speaker 1: task that typically would have been reserved solely for the
Speaker 1: very man who had given the porter of the task
Speaker 1: Ireland's Ulster King of Arms, Sir Arthur Vickers. But on
Speaker 1: this particular afternoon Vickers had been buried up to his
Speaker 1: neck in paperwork, desperately trying to sort out the final
Speaker 1: details regarding the British King and Queen's visit to Dublin
Speaker 1: Castle later that week. He was the Ulster King of Arms,
Speaker 1: of position men to be the leading voice of all
Speaker 1: things heraldry and genealogy in Ireland, even if his job
Speaker 1: title technically required him to be the sole keeper of
Speaker 1: the Order's priceless collection of jewels. He didn't have time
Speaker 1: to go walk halfway across the castle just to put
Speaker 1: a necklace back in its box, Which was how the
Speaker 1: humble Dublin Castle porter William Stivy found himself completely out
Speaker 1: of his depth, holding a priceless golden collar in one
Speaker 1: hand and the key to the safe holding the Irish
Speaker 1: Crown jewels in the other. You know, just a normal
Speaker 1: day at the office. Only when Stivey managed to make
Speaker 1: it to the safe in question, he suddenly faced a
Speaker 1: much larger problem. He couldn't get it open. He was
Speaker 1: able to somehow fit the key into the safe intimidating
Speaker 1: metal hull but no matter what he did, the lock
Speaker 1: refused to turn it. Maybe the vault could sense Stivy's
Speaker 1: impostor syndrome from the way his clammy palms slipped against
Speaker 1: its surface with wasted effort, or maybe he had simply
Speaker 1: been given the wrong key, But regardless, his efforts remained
Speaker 1: in vain. But just as he was about to slink
Speaker 1: back to Vicker's office in defeat, Styvey heard someone else
Speaker 1: approaching the library. The porter didn't know it at the time,
Speaker 1: but he would be asked to recount the following moments
Speaker 1: in Dublin Castle's Bedford Tower Library over and over for
Speaker 1: years to come by police, press and conspiracy theorists alike.
Speaker 1: For the footsteps that had sounded behind him belonged to
Speaker 1: none other than the Ulster King of Arms himself, Sir
Speaker 1: Arthur Vickers, And to Styvey's complete and total shock, he
Speaker 1: watched as Vickers approached the safe. Vicker didn't try to
Speaker 1: turn the stuck key. Instead, he simply pulled the door open.
Speaker 1: For it turns out the lack had somehow been turned
Speaker 1: well before Stivey ever walked into the library that day.
Speaker 1: But what Stivy would be asked to remember most in
Speaker 1: the coming years of interrogators and inquiries was the look
Speaker 1: on Sir Arthur Vicker's face when he finally mustered up
Speaker 1: the strength to look inside the vault, only to discover
Speaker 1: that the Irish Crown jewels were gone. I'm Dani Schwartz,
Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. Now, before we go any
Speaker 1: further into the story, I think it's important to address
Speaker 1: the confusion related to the term Irish crown jewels, for
Speaker 1: when there is no literal Irish crown, which begs the
Speaker 1: question how could there be any jewels for a crown
Speaker 1: that doesn't exist? Well, in order to answer this fully,
Speaker 1: I think it's worth going a little further back to
Speaker 1: briefly summarize Ireland's relationship with the United Kingdom, at least
Speaker 1: as it stood in nineteen o seven. For the sake
Speaker 1: of this story, I am not going to delve too
Speaker 1: deeply into the incredibly tumultuous, nearly thousand year history between
Speaker 1: the two countries, but to give you a foothold in
Speaker 1: which to place yourself within this story, you should know
Speaker 1: in eighteen o one, the Kingdom of Great Britain and
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Ireland merged to create the United Kingdom
Speaker 1: of Great Britain and Ireland, a union that was still
Speaker 1: holding strong in nineteen o seven when this story takes place.
Speaker 1: Of course, quote holding strong is a relative term, especially
Speaker 1: considering Irish nationalists would be attempting to pass legislation advocating
Speaker 1: for home rule as early as nineteen twelve. Safe to say,
Speaker 1: as Ireland would officially become an independent country by nineteen
Speaker 1: twenty two, loyalties to the British crown in nineteen o
Speaker 1: seven we're growing shakier by the day in an increasingly
Speaker 1: independent Irish state, which leads us back to our initial question.
Speaker 1: If Ireland's metaphorical crown was really just an extension of
Speaker 1: the British monarchy, how were their jewels for a crown
Speaker 1: that didn't exist in the first place. The simple answer
Speaker 1: is there weren't, at least not in terms of how
Speaker 1: we traditionally think of crown jewels in actuality. What we
Speaker 1: have come to refer to colloquially as the Irish crown
Speaker 1: jewels was really a star and badge created for the
Speaker 1: sole purpose of representing the most illustrious Order of Saint Patrick,
Speaker 1: which was the English monarchy. Made Irish equivalent to England's
Speaker 1: Order of the Garter or Scotland's Order of the Thistle
Speaker 1: esta published in seventy three by King George the Third.
Speaker 1: The Order of Saint Patrick was created to honor those
Speaker 1: irishmen who exhibited extraordinary loyalty to the Crown. It was
Speaker 1: an honor that had the added benefit of quelling rises
Speaker 1: in Irish patriotism. Lord Charlemont, one of the founding knights
Speaker 1: of the Order, is quoted as saying, quote, it is
Speaker 1: a fact often experienced that the offer of a glittering
Speaker 1: bauble has a greater influence in subduing patriotic integrity end quote.
Speaker 1: The stones on the glittering baubles in question came from
Speaker 1: the English Crown Jewels of Queen Charlotte as well as
Speaker 1: King George the Third star from the Order of Bath,
Speaker 1: but they were refitted to better embody the Order of
Speaker 1: Saint Patrick. The star and badge had a cumulative three
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety four stones spread between them. At the
Speaker 1: center of each lied a three four whale, which was
Speaker 1: a shape closer to that of a clover than the
Speaker 1: girl scout cookie, and that was composed entirely of emeralds
Speaker 1: sitting inside of a ruby cross set above a light
Speaker 1: blue enamel background. The star had eight points stoned almost
Speaker 1: entirely with Brazilian diamonds, said to be of the purest water.
Speaker 1: But similar to the badge, in an arc around the
Speaker 1: emerald treefoil in rose colored diamonds was written the motto
Speaker 1: of the order qui separabi or who can separate us,
Speaker 1: a quote which could have been tempting fate considering exactly
Speaker 1: what happened next. Now, when you think of someone plotting
Speaker 1: to steal something as valuable as the Irish Crown jewels,
Speaker 1: there's an expectation that some level of competency or maybe
Speaker 1: even genius would be necessary to carry out such a feat.
Speaker 1: Immediately my mind goes to some turn of the twenty
Speaker 1: century version of Oceans eleven, with George Clooney and Brad
Speaker 1: Pitt in bowler hats and time pieces attached to their waistcoats,
Speaker 1: sitting around a candle lit table covered in intricate blueprints
Speaker 1: of Bedford Tower. But in the case of the Irish
Speaker 1: Crown Jewels, the success of the theft most likely wasn't
Speaker 1: due to an abundance of schematics or hours of meticulous planning,
Speaker 1: but rather a series of increasing lapses and security that
Speaker 1: led to someone finding just the right moment in which
Speaker 1: to pluck the jewels out from under everyone's noses. Per
Speaker 1: the statutes of the Order, custody of the insignia was
Speaker 1: left to be cared for by whoever was the reigning
Speaker 1: Ulster King of Arms, who in seven happened to be
Speaker 1: the same man who was too busy to walk a
Speaker 1: golden collar back to its safe, Sir Arthur Vickers. Vickers
Speaker 1: had been given the title back in eighteen ninety three
Speaker 1: and had overseen the care of the jewels in Dublin
Speaker 1: Castle's Birmingham Tower until nineteen o three, when it was
Speaker 1: decided Vickers and the jewels would be relocated to a
Speaker 1: new office across castle grounds in Bedford Tower. In preparation
Speaker 1: for the move, Dublin Castle officials were tasked with building
Speaker 1: a new strong room within Bedford Tower that would be
Speaker 1: able to house the safe containing the jewels, which would
Speaker 1: have been great if they had stopped to measure the
Speaker 1: size of the safe before constructing the only door to
Speaker 1: the room. Unfortunately, they had apparently never heard the high
Speaker 1: school shop class adage measure twice cut once, and they
Speaker 1: had instead built a strong room with a door too
Speaker 1: small to fit the safe meant to go inside of it.
Speaker 1: This meant Vickers was forced to decide to either knock
Speaker 1: the wall down to his freshly constructed wrong room, put
Speaker 1: the safe inside, then subsequently rebuild the wall, or simply
Speaker 1: find somewhere else to store the safe, and, in a
Speaker 1: move that should surprise absolutely no one at this point
Speaker 1: in the story, Vicars chose the ladder, deciding to house
Speaker 1: the safe in the Bedford Tower library instead until another
Speaker 1: suitable location could be decided. It should also surprise no
Speaker 1: one that no such location was ever decided, meaning the
Speaker 1: safe holding the Irish Crown Jewels was essentially out in
Speaker 1: the open for anyone with access to Dublin Castle to
Speaker 1: stumble upon. But even with the vault relatively open location,
Speaker 1: it was still acting as another barrier that should have
Speaker 1: served as adequate protection for the jewels. The only two
Speaker 1: keys to the safe were in Vicar's possession, one which
Speaker 1: he kept in a desk in his home and the
Speaker 1: other which he kept on his person at all times.
Speaker 1: Well apart from the one instance in May of seven
Speaker 1: when a housekeeper found one of his keys and had
Speaker 1: to mail it back to his office, or, of course,
Speaker 1: that fateful day just two months later, when he gave
Speaker 1: his personal copy to the porter, William st Ivey, to
Speaker 1: save himself a trip across the castle grounds. Surely those
Speaker 1: were the only two exceptions to the impenetrable security in
Speaker 1: Bedford Tower. Ultimately, the litany of security breaches in Dublin
Speaker 1: Castle were so extreme it was weeks after the last
Speaker 1: confirmed sighting of the Irish Crown Jewels on June eleven
Speaker 1: before Vickers would finally open the safe in Bedford Tower
Speaker 1: Library and realize just how much trouble he was in now.
Speaker 1: Earlier in the story, I mentioned the Dublin Castle porter
Speaker 1: who had the misfortune of happening upon one of the
Speaker 1: most infamous thefts in all of Ireland's history. But in reality,
Speaker 1: Stivey's inability to open the Irish Crown Jewels safe was
Speaker 1: not the first red flag to appear in Bedford Tower
Speaker 1: that day. No, the first red flag was spotted three
Speaker 1: days earlier by one of the castle's cleaners, a woman
Speaker 1: named Mrs Farrell, who found the entrance to the strong
Speaker 1: room left completely unlocked. Unlike the safe, the strong room
Speaker 1: had seven keys spread amongst various officials in Dublin Castle,
Speaker 1: but under no circumstance should it ever have been left
Speaker 1: unlocked and unattended. Naturally, Mrs Farrell reported the unlocked door
Speaker 1: to Vickers, but her concerns were promptly dismissed. Official reports
Speaker 1: have Vickars being quoted as saying, quote, is that so
Speaker 1: when told about the strong room on the third of July.
Speaker 1: Not exactly the reaction of shock and horror you'd expect
Speaker 1: from ireland Ulster King of Arms. But he was in
Speaker 1: the midst of preparing for the King and Queen's arrival
Speaker 1: in Dublin just over a week later, so maybe he
Speaker 1: was just busy. But when on the morning of July six,
Speaker 1: Mrs Farrell came back to Vicker's office to report that
Speaker 1: the strong room door had yet again been left unlocked,
Speaker 1: there was next to no rational explanation as to why
Speaker 1: Vickers would dismiss her again. Another breach insecurity in less
Speaker 1: than a week, let alone the same week the King
Speaker 1: and Queen were set to arrive, should have set off
Speaker 1: alarm bells throughout the castle, and yet Vickars once again
Speaker 1: ignored the report, deciding instead to go about his day
Speaker 1: until at to PM when he sent the porter William's
Speaker 1: Divy to return the golden collar to the safe. Vickers
Speaker 1: would follow him shortly after and find the safes contents vanished,
Speaker 1: save for the light blue ribbon which had once been
Speaker 1: attached to the insignia, everything else missing. When the authorities
Speaker 1: were finally called and the Irish Crown Jewels were officially
Speaker 1: reported missing, it didn't take long to parse out that
Speaker 1: the theft had been an inside job. There was no
Speaker 1: evidence of fourth century into Dublin Castle, and the safe
Speaker 1: had no visible marks that indicated it had been tampered
Speaker 1: with or altered in any way, meaning that only one
Speaker 1: of the two existing keys, or perhaps an exact copy
Speaker 1: made by someone with access to them, was used in
Speaker 1: order to access the jewels. The theft itself had happened
Speaker 1: so quietly it had taken authorities maybe even weeks, to
Speaker 1: notice they were missing in the first place. The security
Speaker 1: in Bedford Tower may have been lacking, but the lack
Speaker 1: of physical evidence left behind suggested to authorities that the
Speaker 1: criminal knew exactly what they were doing, and suddenly the
Speaker 1: pool of suspects narrowed down from all the theoretical Brad
Speaker 1: Pitts and bowler hats across Dublin to three main suspects,
Speaker 1: each of them having, through one way or another, some
Speaker 1: connection to the goings on inside Dublin Castle. The first
Speaker 1: suspect is probably one you have most likely put together
Speaker 1: for yourself, Ireland Ulster, King of Arms himself, Sir Arthur Vickers.
Speaker 1: Given the initial evidence provided, Vickers no doubt, seems like
Speaker 1: the obvious choice. He had the easiest access to the
Speaker 1: jewels and apparently cavalier relationship with the keys, and an
Speaker 1: inherent lack of urgency when provided with information concerning breaches
Speaker 1: and security. But even in the face of all the
Speaker 1: evidence mounted against him, Vickers was unwavering in his declaration
Speaker 1: of innocence. He was negligent, maybe, but not guilty. In
Speaker 1: addition to the missing star and badge, a box containing
Speaker 1: personal jewels from Vicker's mother had also been taken from
Speaker 1: this safe. This of course invites further questions as to
Speaker 1: why Vickers felt it was at all appropriate to keep
Speaker 1: his personal jewels in a vault containing that of official
Speaker 1: royal artifacts. But regardless of vickers own collection, being kept
Speaker 1: inside the safe does begin to poke holes in argument
Speaker 1: advocating his guilt as far as motives go, Vickars may
Speaker 1: have had ease of access, but he had no known debts,
Speaker 1: no reason he would need the jewels in that specific moment,
Speaker 1: and considering he had held his position as Ulster King
Speaker 1: of Arms for over a decade at this point, why
Speaker 1: would he steal the jewels now? Which leads us to
Speaker 1: our second suspect, an associate of Vickars named Francis Bennett Goldney.
Speaker 1: Goldney was the Mayor of Canterbury as well as Vickers
Speaker 1: appointed Athlone Pursuant, which is a title basically equating him
Speaker 1: to a junior Officer of Arms for the Order of St. Patrick. However,
Speaker 1: what is particularly interesting about Goldney as a suspect isn't
Speaker 1: his ties to the Order itself, but his specific interest
Speaker 1: in antiquities. In addition to his duties as Mayor, Goldney
Speaker 1: had acted as honorary curator for the Royal Museum and
Speaker 1: Art Gallery in Canterbury, his love of historical artifacts most
Speaker 1: likely carrying over into his interest in the Order of St. Patrick.
Speaker 1: In fact, Goldney had all but begged Vicars for the
Speaker 1: position as outlan persuing finally being given the job in
Speaker 1: February nine seven not even six months before the theft
Speaker 1: would eventually occur. Now, if Goldeney's a new position under
Speaker 1: Vickers and an accompanying love for antiquities was the sole
Speaker 1: evidence against him, I would be inclined to move on
Speaker 1: to the next suspect. However, the true nature of Goldney's
Speaker 1: suspicion really only came to light after his death, for
Speaker 1: it was only after his untimely passing from a car
Speaker 1: accident in nineteen eighteen that authorities would find Goldney's love
Speaker 1: of antiquity had at some point crossed the line from
Speaker 1: history enthusiast to pack rat, as they discovered a collection
Speaker 1: of stolen artifacts littered around his home. The Irish Crown
Speaker 1: jewels were not found in his possession, but that isn't
Speaker 1: to say he may not have pawned them off or
Speaker 1: sold off the stones individually. At the time, Goldney was
Speaker 1: brought in for questioning, but he was recorded as not
Speaker 1: being in Dublin in the month window from when the
Speaker 1: jewels had last been seen to when they had been
Speaker 1: discovered missing in July seven, and therefore he was let go.
Speaker 1: So that brings us to our third and possibly most
Speaker 1: controversial suspect. The Dublin Herald Francis Shackleton in While the
Speaker 1: other suspects no doubt had close proximity with the jewels,
Speaker 1: Shackleton had one thing that both the other suspects lacked,
Speaker 1: a clear motive. In nineteen o seven, Shackleton was known
Speaker 1: to have been in dire financial straits. He had borrowed
Speaker 1: money from both Vicars and Goldney, as well as additional
Speaker 1: money lenders throughout the United Kingdom, and he had yet
Speaker 1: to make good on any of his dealings. Additionally, Shackleton
Speaker 1: was reportedly living with Vickers as his roommate, suddenly giving
Speaker 1: the incident in May nineteen o seven, when Vickers had
Speaker 1: to have his key returned to him by mail by
Speaker 1: his housekeeper a new sense of foreboding. However, despite the
Speaker 1: fact that both Goldney and Vicars heavily implied Shackleton's possible
Speaker 1: involvement in the theft their statements to the authorities, he
Speaker 1: was never formally considered as a suspect. This was due
Speaker 1: to a few reasons, the first being similar to Goldney,
Speaker 1: that he was also not in Dublin in the month
Speaker 1: span in which the jewels could have been taken. The
Speaker 1: second had less to do with his alibi and more
Speaker 1: to do with his name, or rather his brothers. As
Speaker 1: it happened, Francis Shackleton was the brother of none other
Speaker 1: than the famous Irish Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. It's likely
Speaker 1: that Ernest's ties to King Edward the seventh, as well
Speaker 1: as his notoriety in general, made authorities less likely to
Speaker 1: pursue Francis as a serious lead. It's at this point
Speaker 1: in the story that I'd like to take a brief
Speaker 1: break from analyzing the potential suspects and returned for a
Speaker 1: moment to the rumored night time activities that were happening
Speaker 1: in Dublin Castle. By day, the castle was home to
Speaker 1: the office of the All Star King of Arms, the
Speaker 1: Dublin Metropolitan Police, as well as a catalog of other
Speaker 1: municipal offices. But by night, Dublin Castle was rumored to
Speaker 1: have been the backdrop for some of the most scandalous
Speaker 1: parties in the United Kingdom. In nineteen o eight, a
Speaker 1: newspaper called The Gaelic American published an article titled Abominations
Speaker 1: of Dublin Castle Exposed, which would accuse several prominent government
Speaker 1: officials of participating in quote nightly orgies at the castle.
Speaker 1: It should be noted that the nightly orgies in question
Speaker 1: likely weren't as hyper sexualized as the language suggests, but
Speaker 1: rather meant to be indicative of the nature of the
Speaker 1: relationships between the parties involved. At this point, homosexuality was
Speaker 1: still illegal in the United Kingdom, which meant that this
Speaker 1: article fanned the flames of the scandal already brewing around
Speaker 1: the events leading up to the theft of the Irish
Speaker 1: Crown jewels. The article is full of period typical homophobia,
Speaker 1: citing Dublin Castle as quote a nest of unnatural vice,
Speaker 1: but the undercurrent of the accusations remain as clear as day.
Speaker 1: This is how those who work for the Crown are
Speaker 1: spending their time and resources. And while it may have
Speaker 1: once been easy to dismiss the article as petty gossip,
Speaker 1: especially since it was published anonymously, with the author stating
Speaker 1: their refusal to release the names of their sources for
Speaker 1: quote obvious reasons, in the years since, it has been
Speaker 1: impossible to ignore the kernel of truth that lay at
Speaker 1: the center of the piece. It was an open secret
Speaker 1: in Dublin society that Francis Shackleton was gay, but the
Speaker 1: Crown was more than determined not to implicate other important
Speaker 1: figures who may have run in his same circles. When
Speaker 1: Shackleton was eventually brought in for questioning, right off the bat,
Speaker 1: he made sure to let his interrogators know exactly how
Speaker 1: much trouble he had gone to in order to be there,
Speaker 1: having returned from San Remo to cooperate with their investigation,
Speaker 1: in other words, re establishing his alibi. He would then
Speaker 1: go on to name drop as many of his political
Speaker 1: counterparts as he could, mentioning a ridiculous rumor he had
Speaker 1: heard of him and Lord Haydo, the son of Lord Aberdeen,
Speaker 1: working together to steal the jewels, at which point the
Speaker 1: Solicitor General doing the investigation all but strapped duct tape
Speaker 1: over his mouth, telling Shackleton he quote need not mention
Speaker 1: that in the end, the who was not the target
Speaker 1: of the Crown Jewels Commission's investigation, the how was a
Speaker 1: clear enough target for them to pin the blame. In January,
Speaker 1: the Commission found quote Sir Arthur Vickers did not act
Speaker 1: sercized due vigilant or proper care as the custodian of
Speaker 1: the regalia. Not long after that Vickers was forced to
Speaker 1: leave his post as the Ulster King of Arms, a
Speaker 1: punishment that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Speaker 1: In the years that followed, speculation as to the whereabouts
Speaker 1: of the Irish Crown jewels, as well as the thief
Speaker 1: behind the heist, only became more sensationalized as news of
Speaker 1: the suspects seemed to bring up more scandal by the day.
Speaker 1: As I mentioned earlier, Goldney's true nature as a suspect
Speaker 1: in the case only really came about after his death
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighteen, when he was discovered to have multiple
Speaker 1: stolen antiquities in his possession. Shackleton, despite his previous luck
Speaker 1: of aiding criminal charges, was eventually arrested for fraud in
Speaker 1: nineteen thirteen. He would serve fifteen months in prison, then
Speaker 1: upon release, take up a new name and live out
Speaker 1: the rest of his life in relative of security. Following
Speaker 1: his forced resignation as the Ulster King of Arms, Vickers
Speaker 1: moved from Dublin to kill Morna in County Kerry. He
Speaker 1: spent the rest of his life disputing claims of his guilt,
Speaker 1: even winning a libel case in nineteen thirteen against The
Speaker 1: Daily Mail. After they claimed he had given his supposed
Speaker 1: mistress a copy of the key to the safe and
Speaker 1: subsequently sent her and the jewels across the English Channel
Speaker 1: to lay low in Paris until he could come and
Speaker 1: retrieve them. Vickers was rewarded five thousand pounds in damage
Speaker 1: after it became clear that the mistress in question did
Speaker 1: not in fact exist. Unfortunately, in ninety one, vickers home
Speaker 1: in Kilmourna was raided by a local ira A militia
Speaker 1: who shot and killed him, most likely for his ties
Speaker 1: to the Crown. To this day, the Irish Crown jewels
Speaker 1: have never been found, nor has the culprit ever been identified. However,
Speaker 1: in light of the evidence that has come forward in
Speaker 1: the century since the theft, most historians and true crime
Speaker 1: enthusiasts agree Shackleton was likely the mastermind behind the unsolved heyst.
Speaker 1: While he did have an alibi for the month period
Speaker 1: in which the jewels could have been taken, a known
Speaker 1: associate of Shackleton's, a man named Captain Richard H. Gorgeous,
Speaker 1: all but confessed to the crime. After being sentenced to
Speaker 1: time in prison following a completely unrelated manslaughter charge in
Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen. He confirmed that he and Shackleton had conspired
Speaker 1: to steal the jewels, though interestingly, he said the idea
Speaker 1: for the heist was inspired by a practical joke set
Speaker 1: by one of the important political figures rumored to have
Speaker 1: frequented the Dublin Castle Orgies, Lord Haydo. Apparently, Lord Haydo
Speaker 1: had taken the jewels during a night of drunken revelry
Speaker 1: when Vickers was exceptionally intoxicated, and he subsequently sent them
Speaker 1: back in the mail the next day. Normally this type
Speaker 1: of story the sounds like hollow bragging after a night
Speaker 1: of drinking, a funny prank that someone probably didn't actually do.
Speaker 1: But in Vicker's statements to the authorities after the initial theft,
Speaker 1: he had made a peculiar statement. Vickers told Detective cur quote,
Speaker 1: I would not be a bit surprised if the jewels
Speaker 1: would be returned to my house by parcel post tomorrow morning,
Speaker 1: almost as if that thing had happened before. Of course,
Speaker 1: there are a fair amount of conspiracy theories as to
Speaker 1: exactly what happened to the Irish Crown jewels. In an
Speaker 1: article came out in a publication called The Carryman, claiming
Speaker 1: that a descendant of one of Vicker's valets had discovered
Speaker 1: exact only where the jewels were hidden near his former
Speaker 1: home in Kilmurna, but upon searching the location determined the
Speaker 1: jewels had been taken by another party convenience. Others theorized that,
Speaker 1: in the growing political unrest in Ireland at the time,
Speaker 1: the jewels were taken by the Irish Republican Brotherhood as
Speaker 1: a political act against the Crown. However, there's little corroborated
Speaker 1: evidence to actually support that claim. In my opinion, the
Speaker 1: most interesting theory has to do with the nature of
Speaker 1: the relationship between Vickers and Shackleton. Francis Shackleton's homosexuality was,
Speaker 1: as I said, in open secret, but many speculate that,
Speaker 1: in addition to living together as roommates, he and Vickars
Speaker 1: were in a romantic relationship of their own. Had they
Speaker 1: been that close, it would make sense that Shackleton would
Speaker 1: be able to make a copy of one of vickers
Speaker 1: keys without a rousing too much suspicion. Ultimately, there is
Speaker 1: no doubt that negligence Vicars exhibited in his care for
Speaker 1: the jewels contributed to their disappearance, but at the end
Speaker 1: we will most likely never know who was actually responsible
Speaker 1: for the disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels. In terms
Speaker 1: of where the jewels maybe today. As undoubtedly cool as
Speaker 1: it would be for the pristine star and badge to
Speaker 1: just exist in an old jewelry box somewhere in a
Speaker 1: forgotten attic in Ireland, the likelihood that the gems are
Speaker 1: still attached to their original pieces are slim to none gorgeous.
Speaker 1: The man who claimed to have completed the heist with
Speaker 1: Shackleton told reporters that Shackleton had ordered him to flee
Speaker 1: with the jewels to Amsterdam and wait three months before
Speaker 1: breaking them up to sell in parts. Most likely those
Speaker 1: three months were in case there was going to be
Speaker 1: a ransom offered in exchange for the return of the jewels.
Speaker 1: Whoever to take the Crown Jewels would have likely followed
Speaker 1: a similar line of thinking, choosing to separate the gems
Speaker 1: and sell them to be reset into smaller pieces so
Speaker 1: as to remain less conspicuous. So while it's almost impossible
Speaker 1: that the Irish Crown Jewels remain intact somewhere waiting to
Speaker 1: be found, I like to think the gems have most
Speaker 1: likely found their way into new pieces of jewelry, and
Speaker 1: that maybe every once in a while those rose colored
Speaker 1: diamonds find themselves joined together by the handshakes or embraces
Speaker 1: of their wearers, so that the motto of the Order
Speaker 1: of St. Patrick, who can separate us can once again
Speaker 1: ring true. That was the unsolved mystery of the Irish
Speaker 1: Crown Jewels, But stick around after a brief sponsor break
Speaker 1: to hear specifically how Sir Arthur Vickers defended his innocence
Speaker 1: in his later years. In the years after his forced resignation,
Speaker 1: Vickers never gave up his quest to prove his innocence
Speaker 1: about his role in the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels. Eventually,
Speaker 1: the truth came out that it was actually his half
Speaker 1: brother who had leaked the information to the Gaelic American
Speaker 1: for their infamous article regarding Francis Shackleton and the several
Speaker 1: prominent government officials who participated in the raucous orgies in
Speaker 1: Dublin Castle. Vickers would hold a grudge about his dismissal
Speaker 1: for the rest of his life. He even went so
Speaker 1: far as to state his displeasure with the Irish government
Speaker 1: in his own will in regards to his life's worth
Speaker 1: and possessions. He wrote, quote, I might have had more
Speaker 1: to dispose of had it not been for the outrageous
Speaker 1: way in which I was treated by the Irish government
Speaker 1: over the loss of the Irish Crown jewels, in which
Speaker 1: you know, fair point, but still wow, but even more
Speaker 1: petty than that. And possibly my favorite little tidbit of
Speaker 1: information on Vicars that I dug up in research for
Speaker 1: this episode is that after his resignation quote, Vickers, in
Speaker 1: a fit of malice, retained the key to the strong
Speaker 1: room at the Office of Arms, forcing the newly appointed
Speaker 1: Ulster to break and enter to retrieve state regalia required
Speaker 1: at an official function end quote. At least at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, Vickers finally learned his lesson and
Speaker 1: learned how to lock the strong room door behind him
Speaker 1: before leaving Dublin Castle for the final time. Noble Blood
Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and
Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me
Speaker 1: Danish Wortz. Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston,
Speaker 1: hannah's Wick, Miura Hayward, Courtney Sunder and Laurie Goodman. The
Speaker 1: show is produced by rema Il Kayali, with supervising producer
Speaker 1: Josh Thayne and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and
Speaker 1: Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit
Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.