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The Great Sancy: Henrietta

The "present Queen of England" might have been either the queen-consort of Charles II., Catharine of Braganza, or the dowager-queen Henrietta Maria. But in either case, this passage shows that the "Sancy" remained in the possession of the English royal family till the year 1669. It also shows that the stone was brought by M. Sancy, as above stated, direct from "The Levant," consequently, that it could never have belonged to Charles the Bold. Its owner, here spoken of as "the late M de Sancy," died in 1627, and as he had already parted with it in London, about or after the year 1590, it is evident that all the other De Sancys, descendants of the original purchaser, mentioned in popular accounts of the stone, are purely mythical beings, introduced to make its history stretch back to the time of the Burgundian prince. We now identify Henrietta Maria, and not Catherine, of Braganza, as the Queen referred to by Berquem. This appears from the subjoined extract from a letter of the Queen Dowager, written while in exile to Somerset, Earl of Worcester, and presenting to him, amongst other valuable gifts, the very diamond in question, in return for the sacrifices made by that nobleman in the cause of the House of Stewart: "We, Henrietta Maria of Bourbon, Queen of Great Britain, have by command of our much honoured lord and master, the King, caused to be handed to our dear and well-beloved cousin, Edward Somerset, Count and Earl of Worcester, a ruby necklace containing ten large rubies and 160 pearls set and strung together in gold. Among the said rubies are also two large diamonds, called the 'Sanci' and the 'Portugal,' &c."

The "Portugal," of which nothing further is known, was probably the above-mentioned stone received by Nicholas Harlai from Dom Antonio in security for a large sum never repaid. It would thus became the property of Harlai, and may have been sold by him to the English crown when he disposed of the "Sanci" about 1590.

But, however this be, the distinct reference here made to the "Sanci," while confirming Berquem's statement, brings the history of this stone down to the reign of Charles II. There is an absurd statement current in popular works to the effect that Charles' successor, James II., purchased the diamond from a Baron de Sanci, while residing at St. Germain. But we have seen that it had passed from the Sanci family just about 100 years previous to that time. James certainly did obtain possession of the stone; but that was either through purchase, or, more probably gift, from the generous Earl of Worcester, its then owner. All, however, are of accord that James, in his turn, sold it for 625,000 francs (pound 25,000) to Louis XIV. about the year 1695. From the "Grand Monarque" it passed to his successor Louis XV., who wore it as a hat ornament at his coronation. It also appears among the French Crown Jewels in the inventory of 1791, in which it is valued at 1,000,000 francs (pound 40,000).