Evening star., 1902-04-25
CORONATION JEWELS
The. Black Prince Ruby in
King Edwards Crown.
Il I T0RIC GEM IS
MAY ovERsHADoW IN INTEREST
THE ROYAL ONES.
Bronze Diamond Owned by the Duchess
of Bedford - And
Great Opal.

Though King Edward will drag prodig
ious train of almost eighteen karat spun
gold at his heels and his queen will per-
| ambulate the famous abbey under a gilt
canopy carried by four important ducn-
esses, it is the jewels, royal and individual,
that will make for the greatest splendor
at the forthcoming coronation.
Queen Alexandra frankly adores precious
stones, and King Edward has very pretty
knowledge of good gems; between them
they will display on coronation day some
magnificent antique and modern specimens
and to help the glitter and the glory of
the occasion the queen has asked the peer
esses to wear their tiaras. The result will
undoubtedly be dazzling, for during the
past three centuries rich English families,
taking advantage of the troubles Of their
continental neighbors, have bought fine
jewelry, and now own the most abundant
treasures of this sort of any of the nobility
of Europe.
For her own part, the Queen Of England
loves pearls best of all gems, and her
robes of state are to be looped and fas-
tened with ropes Of pearls. These are her
chief pride and pleasure; because some of
them are said to have belonged to Mary,
Queen of Scotland. They were given her
by her husband, King Francis, who had
them from his mother, Catherine de Medici.
When Mary got into trouble and the hands
of Queen Elizabeth. Catharine was eager
to get the pearls, but Elizabeth liked
pearls, too, and secured them for a paltry
price. There is no doubling their size and
splendor. for in her portrait the queen Of
James / wears some of them, and one,
pinned in her hair, looks about the size of
a sickle pear. Besides the pearls Queen
Alexandra will wear the Kohnoor set in
her crown, and the emerald given Queen
Victoria by the Car of Russia and amid
the priceless lace that is to form the front
of her frock will appear all the Hanova-
rian diamonds set in one dazzling stom-
acher.
The finest of the jewels collected by the
four Georges and William " have been
put into her crown, which is to be made
only of these stones, with the kohnoor in
the center The remainder are really suf-
ficiently abundant to serve as spaneles for
her whole costume. The lace she is to use
is from the collection of English royalty.
Queen Victoria left her all Queen Anne's
lace and that of King William III, for the
latter, though a war lord and very maScu-
line person. loved lace like woman and
spent as much as twelve thousand dollars
a year on the laces of Italy and Belgium.
Best in His Crown.
King Edwards best jewel belongs In his
crown, and is the biggest ruby on record.
1t was given to Edward, the Black Prince,
by King Pedro Of Castillo. In the crown,
also. Is the famous tear-shaped diamond
which Anne Boleyn received from Francis
1 of France. In Anne's day it was worth
fifteen thousand crowns and today it is
priceless.
Many Of the nobility of England, how
ever, have collections of precious stones
that equal, if not surpass, the crown jew
els, and at the coronation the best In their
caskets will come forth. The Duchess of
Bedford owns the biggest bronze diamond
in the world. This is being set at present
in tiara. The Duke of Hamilton. who
can't afford to keep the acres Of his pa
tory vol rtrha ,,a i~ -1,4
| quently seeks, as a rule, safer and more
comfortable shelter elsewhere, owns dia-
monds of such size and such numbers that
the wife who he has lately married could
actually afford to have an entire high neck
and long sleeved waist covered with them.
His mother. In a shabby black gown, used
to attend the opera with four-inch wide
belt Of diamonds about her ample waist,
and every diamond in the belt was fit to
set as solitaire.
The Duchess of Sutherland will probably
take the cake for her opals. Her most
treasured stone was originally the property
OF the Empress Josephine. and was known
because of its gorgeous fire as the Burn
ing of Troy" Nobody knows just how
Napoleon got this jewel, but the story
runs that he gave it to his wife who dated
all his and her misfortunes from the hour
it came into her hands. She sold it
just before her death. and it passed into
the keeping of the Sutherlands, that have
since been a singularly lucky family: So
evidently, an opal can work two ways.
One Of the ladies who will show marvel
Gus and, saving for the Russian crown jew
els, incompatible emeralds, is the Princess
Dulup Sing. She is an English girl, we'd
ded to the dusky East Indian prince, who
was educated in England, gives his ale
glance to the crown and inherited from his
father sumptuous collection of jewels. All
the emeralds of the collection he gave his
wife, in the form of great collar. which
falls like a bertha around her shoulders, in
coronet, bracelets. girdle and a throat
| band. These, with brooches, bracelets and
rings of emeralds, she will undoubtedly dis
play at the coronation
Glorious Rubies.
The Marchioness Of Butte will lead all