HOPE DIAMOND: LEGEND OR REALITY? (II)

We continue the black legend of the Hope Diamond with the following French king: Louis XVI , who gave the jewel to Marie Antoinette and, although she knew the dark history of the diamond, she wore it shamelessly, even going so far as to lend it to the princess lamballe . Both Louis XVI, as Marie Antoinette, and Princess Lamballe, died at the guillotine during the French Revolution.

You lose track of the diamond, until a stranger takes it to a Dutch carver, who divides the diamond into two parts. One half was acquired by Carlos Federico Guillermo , Duke of Brunswick, and the other by the same Dutch carver . The first of them loses his fortune in less than two months; while the second dies of a heart attack when he discovers that his own son steals the diamond to sell it to a Jewish tanner named Beaulieu . The son, upon learning of his father’s death, is overwhelmed with guilt and ends up committing suicide.

Beaulieu, knowing all the tragedies that the jewel dragged, was frightened and gives it to the King George IV of England . The English king decides to embed the diamond in his crown, and in 1822 he loses his mind and dies.

The next owner of this epic diamond was Sir Henry Hope , banker and merchant. Knowing the dark stories that surrounded him, she decided to organize a ceremony to exorcise him. Once “healed”, he decides to give his name to the jewel, which he maintains to this day: Hope Diamond . Nothing ever happened to Sir Henry Hope, but after his death the gem passed into the hands of his descendants, who did suffer misfortunes such as unexplained deaths and sudden bankruptcies.

The jewel was sold to an American named Colot , who fell seriously ill, lost his fortune and ended up committing suicide. The next owner was the Russian prince Kanitowski , who presented the diamond to his lover, a parisian starlet . A few days later, after a strong argument between the two, the Russian prince kills his lover while the jewel was lost in confusion. The whereabouts of the diamond were revealed again, when it fell into the hands of the Greek Mr. Simon Montarides, who also suffered the consequences of Hope: the axle of the carriage in which his family was traveling failed so he plunged down a ravine without leaving survivors.