The Taj Mahal Diamond Returns to Hollywood (And More Sparkling Jewelry News)
Elizabeth Taylor's heart-shaped Indian diamond appears on a Hollywood star, the Danes upgrade their crown jewel displays, and state visit news pours in
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Dame Elizabeth Taylor’s Taj Mahal Diamond Resurfaces on the Red Carpet
For the premiere of Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” in Hollywood last week, actress Margot Robbie, who stars as Cathy Earnshaw, stepped on to the red carpet in a glamorous Schiaparelli gown paired with a major—and complicated—necklace loaned by Cartier.
The 1970s-era necklace houses the Taj Mahal Diamond, a heart-shaped table-cut stone that is engraved with text that dates to the seventeenth century. Christie’s explains, “The literal translation of the Persian inscription on the stone has three entries: Nur Jahan Baygum-e Padshah; 23; and 1037. This means that Nur Jahan was a lady of the Padshah, while the number 23 refers to the regnal year of Shah Jahangir, which was indeed 1037, equivalent to 1627-28 A.D.”
It’s thought that Shah Jahangir, the fourth emperor of the Mughal Empire, may have given the stone to his son and successor, Shah Jahan. He was the famous builder of the Taj Mahal, the marble mausoleum in Agra that he commissioned as a tomb for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
Centuries later, the diamond—or one thought to be the same diamond—was acquired by Cartier in the early 1970s. The firm exchanged the diamond’s silk-cord setting for a new gold chain studded with diamonds and rubies. They then sold the romantic necklace to two of the century’s most famous lovers: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Burton secretly bought the necklace and gave it to Taylor as a fortieth birthday present. It was Burton who apparently nicknamed the diamond the “Taj Mahal” when he quipped, “I set out to buy the Taj Mahal for my wife’s 40th birthday. Finding it difficult to buy the Taj, I bought this diamond for her instead.”
Taylor kept the necklace in her collection for the rest of her life. In the famous auction of her jewelry at Christie’s in 2011, the piece sold for an astounding $8.8 million. But when the buyer pressed for more evidence of the stone’s purported Mughal provenance, the sale was rescinded. The trust balked, saying that they had advertised the diamond only as an Indian gemstone. They blamed Christie’s for any elevated or unsubstantiated provenance claims. Lawsuits ensued.
As far as I can tell, the necklace is owned today by the Cartier Collection, the archival arm of the famous firm. They appear to be the ones who loaned it to Robbie to wear on the red carpet. Predictably, the reemergence of the Indian diamond has led to questions about the chain of acquisition that brought it from the subcontinent to Cartier.
If the diamond is indeed the same one linked to a pair of Mughal emperors—and proving that will surely be almost insurmountably difficult—many believe that it should be returned to its ancestral home. Those who have followed the back-and-forth over the Koh-i-Noor Diamond will find familiar arguments at play here, though this diamond is currently in private, not state, hands.
Denmark’s crown jewels get a shiny new home at Rosenborg Slot
Good news for future visitors to Copenhagen: the treasury that holds the Danish crown jewels at Rosenborg Castle is getting a major upgrade.
The Danish Royal Collection announced on January 15 that a pair of major donations will enable them to do major restoration and improvement work at the castle, including significant expansion of the treasury.
The press release notes, “The new treasury will collect and present the most important royal objects, including the crown jewels, regalia and historical costumes, in an atmospheric underground universe, where guests will have access to much larger parts of the collections than today.”
The treasury holds Denmark’s crowns and regalia, as well as four parures designated as part of the crown jewel collection. (I explored their history in detail here at Hidden Gems in 2024.) Also on display are other important pieces of jewelry, including Countess Danner’s citrine parure and a pearl necklace that belonged to the tragic Queen Caroline Matilda.
More royal state visits—and tiaras!—coming in just a few weeks
We were treated last week to a pair of state visits by the King and Queen of Denmark to two of their Baltic neighbors, Lithuania and Estonia. The tiaras we saw at those banquets were just appetizers, it turns out, as even more state visits are quickly populating on royal calendars.
On March 10, the King and Queen of Sweden will head to Poland for a state visit at the invitation of President Karol Nawrocki. This will be King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia’s first visit to Poland since 2011. The couple will make stops in Warsaw and Gdansk during the visit.
Four days later, on March 14, King Frederik X and Queen Mary will make a much-anticipated state visit to her native Australia. Queen Mary was born and raised in Tasmania, and the couple met in Sydney during the 2002 Summer Olympics. The full program of the upcoming visit has not yet been announced, but Australian media sources have said that the royal couple will make stops in Canberra, Melbourne, and Hobart during the trip.
At the end of March, we’ll see a rare royal-royal state visit in Europe, as the King and Queen of the Belgians travel to visit their cousins, the King and Queen of Norway. The visit will begin on March 24 in Oslo. Crown Prince Haakon is scheduled to be part of the visit, but so far Crown Princess Mette-Marit is not. Mette-Marit is facing both her ongoing pulmonary fibrosis treatment and a horrific pair of scandals. (I would be very surprised to see her representing the King and Queen in any capacity in the near future.)
On Tuesday, the King and Queen of the Netherlands threw their hat in the state visit ring as well, announcing that they would welcome the President of Germany to Amsterdam on June 9. And there’s also the TBA state visit from the President of Nigeria to Britain, which Roya Nikkah revealed will also be happening in March. Here’s hoping we get more details on that one very soon.
Five more things I loved this week
📖 The winter cold has really upped my reading time in recent weeks, so I was beyond excited when a review copy of Andrew Sean Greer’s new novel, Villa Coco, dropped in my inbox this weekend. It’s available for pre-order now ahead of publication in June. Thanks to Doubleday for sending it along.
🪡 Those of you who saw my January stitching update on Instagram know that I ran out of thread right before I was able to finish the background of my Thankful canvas project. (Grrrrr.) I made my way over to the DMC website to order more—I’m one of those rare people who actually likes to stitch with pearl cotton—and while I was there, I kitted the Ina Garten canvas that I bought from Moore Stitchery. Very excited to start that project!
📺 I’ve been itching for another reality series to watch. So far, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills hasn’t managed to capture my attention this season, but I’m hopeful for the new season of Below Deck: Down Under, thanks to a promising premiere on Monday.
🎙️ I don’t think I’ve ever clicked on a podcast link faster than when I saw that Amy Poehler’s guest on Good Hang this week was Carol Burnett (!).
🧴 This season inevitably turns us all into dry husks. I’ve been putting on hand lotion like my life depends on it, and my go-tos are the Shea Better Hand Cream from eos (a bargain!) and the Ultimate Strength Hand Salve from Kiehls (a lovely splurge).
And next up here at Hidden Gems…
My year-long series on important days in the life of the late Queen Elizabeth II continues this weekend for paid subscribers with a deep-dive into a truly remarkable moment from her childhood: the day her uncle’s abdication made her heiress presumptive to the throne. See you all then!
Thank you for your generous patronage of my work, both at The Court Jeweller and here at my subscriber-supported Substack, Hidden Gems. Your continued support enables me to produce quality content focusing on history, royalty, and (most importantly) jewelry.
I don't think I like this giant diamond heart and the chain doesn't work for me. Better as a brooch or on a much longer chain.
I had no idea there were so many state visits coming up - how exciting! It will be very special for Queen Mary to go back to Australia.