Overview
- The 137‑carat Florentine diamond, famed for its yellow‑green hues and Medici provenance, had not been seen publicly since 1919.
- Three Habsburg relatives told The New York Times the stone was safeguarded in Canada, resolving a mystery that spurred decades of rumors about theft or recutting.
- Karl von Habsburg‑Lothringen said his grandmother carried the jewels in a small cardboard suitcase before they were placed in a Canadian bank vault during World War II.
- Relatives said Empress Zita shared the location only with her sons Robert and Rodolphe under instructions to keep it confidential for 100 years after Charles I’s 1922 death.
- The family says it hopes to display the diamond in Canada, has no plans to sell it, and has floated placing it in a trust.