Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1946-12-19
Series Of Jewel
Thefts Battles
Scotland Yard
Mysteries Face SIeuths as
Palace, Two Boudoirs
Are Ransacked.


from the duchess of Windsor. the
general staff Of Scotland Yard is
confronted with three more mystic
ries, the disappearance or theft Of
1853, 1000 in gems and furs from St.
James palace and from the boudoirs
Of two American-born titled women.
The thieves who have got away
with 100000 of jewelry and furs in
the last two months in Britain's
postwar crime wave added these
three coups to the records in Scot
land Yards archives:
l. Stole $4,000 worth Of diamonds
from the fabulous St. James palace.
housing personnel of the royal
household. The victim was Amer
ican-born Lady Piers Leigh. Sir.
Piers is the one-time equerry to the
prince of Wales who became king
of England and later duke Of Wind
sor.
Hint Inside Job.
2. Looted the home Of the march
ioness of Harrington, daughter Of
Joseph P. Kennedy, former United
States ambassador to the court OF
St. James. The loss was estimated
at $4,000 in gems.
8. Robbed the Orme square home
Of ]. Harvey and his daughter, R
Betty Lexington. Of 10000 in pearls
and two mink coats.
A Scotland Yard pronouncemeni
on the St. James palace case raised
speculation that it might have been
an inside" job. The detectives said
that case was mot burglary-the
jewels have only been reported
stolen"
British Press association speculat.
ed that prewar gang Of country
house thieves" might have picked
up commando training during the
war to accomplish the cat bur-
glary of the duchess Of Windsor's
apartment and the other battling
crimes.
To cope with the thefts, Scotland
Yard sent six Labrador retrievers
to the mounted police school in the
hope that their hunting noses could
be trained to sniff out a clue which
has baffled the nations foremost
experts in crime and fingerprinting.
Sir Piers and his wife, the former
Sarah Polk Bradford of Nashville,
Tenn, live in an apartment near
the famous o'clock tower" built by
Henry VIII when he was holding
court there with his successive
wives. The palace. occupied by the
royal family for many years, now
is used on rare state occasions.
See Raffles Touch.
The method at the Harrington
home was that Of a modern Raj
fles" and followed a pattern of mi
mute planning combined with exact
knowledge Of the victims move
ments and secret hiding places for
precious stones.
THE robbery took place during
two hours when the house was emp
ty," Lady Hartington's housekeeper
said. She reported that when she
returned after a short absence, II
found the front door open. The lock
did not look as if it had been forced.
l went to Lady Hartington's room
and found the jewel case empty"
The baffled Harvey family be-
lieved the robbery there was COM
mitted while they dined.
Nearly two-thirds of the $780, 900
haul in two months was taken in
four burglaries in ten days. Sand
WICKED between the Windsor and
Harrington thefts was the robbery of
$48, 900 of gems and furs from Mrs.
Vyvyan Van Damn, whose husband
operates burlesque show in Lon
don.
Beatrice Lille, Canadian-born
actress who now is Lady Peel, con-
tributed $40, 1000 worth of gems to an
earlier "cat" thief.