The mysterious case of a missing royal diamond

The papers were filled with royal news in April 1926 and one
event, in particular, needed plenty of coverage. King George V and
Queen Mary were about to become grandparents again as their second
son and his wife, the Duke and Duchess of York, were expecting
their first child. Little did anyone know at the time that this
royal baby mania would actually precede the birth of the girl who
would grow up to be the longest reigning monarch in British
history.

All anyone knew was that royal news was good news in April 1926
and so any even vaguely regal story was a must have. Cue the
mystery of the missing diamond earring.

A lost royal jewel

In what sounded like the start of a book by the then up and
coming author, Agatha Christie (and she’d be making her own
headlines later in 1926), the police had been called in to search
for a missing royal diamond.

The gem in question had been part of an earring that had
mysteriously disappeared in Hyde Park just days earlier. On April 3
1926, the Daily Express broke the news, saying the gem ”weighs
three carats, and is valued at £300”. That’s about £24,000 in
today’s money.

To make it even more mysterious, the jewel was found to be
missing ”at the end of a motor drive in Hyde Park”. The paper
reported that ”the motor-car was thoroughly searched” but ”the
stone could not be found.” Now, the case had been handed over to
the police with officers from Vine Street being called in.

The only clue to the owner of the earring was that it was a
member of the Royal Family who had been in London the previous
week-end. And so April 1926 began with a queen or princess, a motor
car and a hugely valuable diamond that had disappeared without
trace. A proper case for Poirot.

Royal home move

The papers of April 1926 had, so far, been filled with stories
about a new home for the Duke and Duchess of York. The couple were
known to be on the move for very special reasons, although very few
journalists actually said the quiet part out loud. While everyone
knew that the duchess was about to have a baby, no one put it that
way, instead hinting at ”happy news” or ”the most joyful of
reasons”.

The London home of the duke and duchess was what excited most
attention but on April 3, their country residence came up for
discussion in the North Down Herald and County Down Independent
which carried the syndicated column called ‘A Woman in London’,
written by Sylvia Mayfair. On April 3, she was excited to tell
readers that ”The King and Queen have spent the greater part of
the last week at Sandringham. Part of their time was taken up with
inspecting the alterations and renovations which are being carried
out at Sandringham House. When it is ready for their occupation, it
is expected that Their Majesties will give York Cottage,
Sandringham, over to the Duke and Duchess of York, as their country
residence.”

Sylvia missed the target on that one. The Yorks never did use
York cottage but in April 1926, any royal news that mentioned them
was worth printing. Sylvia knew her business.

Royal childcare advice

Given that everyone knew there was a royal baby on the way, even
if it wasn’t being overtly stated, one paper found a cunning way to
catch the trend and headlined a piece on April 3 1926 as ”Bringing
up a Royal Family”. It appeared to have been written by the Queen
of Spain. In fact, it was a series of observations from a writer
called Constance Drexel who interviewed Queen Victoria Eugenie, a
granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and published the results in
Pearson’s Magazine. The Staffordshire Advertiser leapt on it.

Fortunately for Queen Ena, and for Constance Drexel, the writer
had found the royal children ”remarkably alert…interested in
everything…absolutely at ease and never bored.” The Spanish queen
told the writer that her children were being raised ”to understand
they are just ordinary people without an expectation of special
privileges but with only a greater sense of responsibility for good
behaviour.”

Queen Ena, who had grown up in Scotland and London before
marrying King Alfonso XIII of Spain, also said that her eldest son
”is going to be a farmer….Spain is eighty per cent agriculture.” At
the time, Prince Alfonso was also heir to the throne although he
never ended up reigning. Ena, who clearly had a knack for PR, added
that her third son ”is going to be an engineer, he has already
decided that.”

In fact her third son ended up engineering, partly, the
restoration of Spain’s monarchy. The Infante Juan, for that was his
name, ended up in exile with his parents and siblings in 1931 but
never took his eye off the throne. His elder son became King Juan
Carlos in 1975 and his grandson now reigns as King Felipe VI.

A pain in the ear

Ena’s second son also made the news on April 3 1926, despite his
mother not having attributed any bizarre career ambitions for him
in her interview. Infante Jamie, Duke of Segovia, and then aged 17,
was reported by the Rochdale Observer to have just left England
after ‘a further three weeks’ course of treatment for ear
trouble.’

He wasn’t the only royal getting earache. The paper wasn’t the
only one to note that the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII,
had had to undergo minor surgery just days earlier and informed its
readers that the cause was ear trouble. Sadly, for Edward at least,
the operation meant he had to postpone his Easter plans to head to
Biarritz.