Editing Hope Diamond (section)

=== United Kingdom ===
A blue diamond with the same shape, size, and color as the Hope Diamond was recorded by [[John Francillon]] as in the possession of the London diamond merchant [[Daniel Eliason]] in September 1812, the earliest point when the history of the Hope Diamond can be definitively fixed,<ref name="twsI44fof">{{Cite magazine |date=July 11, 2011 |title=The Hope Diamond |url=http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/hope.htm |magazine=The Smithsonian |access-date=July 11, 2011}}</ref><ref name=twsI44ll/> although a second, less definitive report claims that the Hope Diamond's "authentic history" can only be traced back to 1830.<ref name="twsI44mm">{{Cite news |last=Willson |first=T. Edgar |date=February 7, 1911 |title=Editor Jewelers' Circular Writes of the Stories of Misfortunes |work=The New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0F11FF355A15738DDDA00894DA405B818DF1D3 |access-date=July 9, 2011 |quote=As far as he can learn, the authentic history of this gem goes back only to 1830...}}</ref> The jewel was a "massive blue stone of {{convert|45.54|carat|g oz|adj=on}}"<ref name=twsI44ll/> and weighed {{convert|177|gr|abbr=on}} ({{convert|4|gr|abbr=on}} = 1 carat).<ref name=twsI44fof/> The 1812 date was just days after 20 years since the theft of the French Blue, just as the [[statute of limitations]] for the crime had taken effect.<ref name=twsI44ll/>

While the diamond had disappeared for two decades, there were questions whether this diamond now in Great Britain was exactly the same one as had belonged to the French kings. Scientific investigation in 2008 confirmed "beyond reasonable doubt" that the Hope Diamond and that owned by the kings of France were, indeed, the same gemstone.<ref name="twsI44fof" /><ref name="twsI44ll">{{Cite news |last=Agence France-Presse |date=November 18, 2008 |title=U.S. has Sun King's stolen gem, say French experts |publisher=Canada.com |url=http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=1f5933e7-add6-4bd8-a98a-b7edc1819129&sponsor= |url-status=dead |access-date=July 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110135923/http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=1f5933e7-add6-4bd8-a98a-b7edc1819129&sponsor= |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |quote=French experts said on Tuesday they had proof that the Hope Diamond, a star exhibit in Washington's Smithsonian Institution, is a legendary gem once owned by King Louis XIV that was looted in the French Revolution. New evidence unearthed in France's National Museum of Natural History shows beyond reasonable doubt that the Hope Diamond is the same steely-blue stone once sported by the Sun King, they said.}}</ref>

[[File:George IV 1821 color.jpg|thumb|[[Portrait of George IV|Coronation portrait]] of [[George IV of the United Kingdom]].]]
[[File:QueenCaroline1820.jpg|thumb|There is speculation that George's wife, [[Caroline of Brunswick]], may have helped procure the diamond for the British monarch, but records are lacking.]]
There are conflicting reports about what happened to the diamond during these years. Eliason's diamond may have been acquired by [[George IV of the United Kingdom]],<ref name=twsI35/> possibly through [[Caroline of Brunswick]];<ref name=twsI44ll/> however, there is no record of the ownership in the [[Royal Archives]] at Windsor, although some secondary evidence exists in the form of contemporary writings and artwork, and George IV tended to mix up the Crown property of the [[Crown jewels]] with family heirlooms and his own personal property.

A source at the Smithsonian suggested there were "several references" suggesting that George had indeed owned the diamond.<ref name=twsI44fof/> After his death in 1830, it has been alleged that some of this mixed collection was stolen by George's last mistress, [[Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham|Elizabeth Conyngham]], and some of his personal effects were discreetly liquidated to cover the many debts he had left behind him. Another report states that the king's debts were "so enormous" that the diamond was probably sold through "private channels".<ref name=twsI44fof/> In either case, the blue diamond was not retained by the British royal family.

The stone was later reported to have been acquired by a rich London banker named [[Thomas Hope (1769–1831)|Thomas Hope]], for either $65,000<ref name=twsI44bb/> or $90,000.<ref name=twsI44jj/> It has been suggested that Eliason may have been a "front" for Hope,<ref name=twsI44ll/> acting not as a diamond merchant venturing money on his own account, but rather as an agent to acquire the diamond for the banker. In 1839, the Hope Diamond appeared in a published catalog of the gem collection of his brother [[Henry Philip Hope]], members of the Anglo-Dutch banking family [[Hope & Co.]]<ref name=twsI44fof/>

The stone was set in a fairly simple [[medallion]] surrounded by many smaller white diamonds, which he sometimes lent to Louisa de la Poer Beresford, the widow of his brother, Thomas Hope, for society [[Ball (dance)|balls]]. After falling into the ownership of the Hope family, the stone came to be known as the "Hope Diamond".<ref name="twsI44bb" />

Henry Philip Hope died in 1839, the same year as the publication of his collection catalog. His three nephews, the sons of Thomas and Louisa, fought in court for ten years over his inheritance, and ultimately the collection was split up. The oldest nephew, [[Henry Thomas Hope]], received eight of the most valuable gems, including the Hope Diamond. It was displayed in the [[Great Exhibition]] of London in 1851 and at the [[Exposition Universelle (1855)|1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris]], but was usually kept in a bank vault. In 1861, Henry Thomas Hope's only child, Henrietta, married [[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 6th Duke of Newcastle|Henry Pelham-Clinton]] (and later [[Duke of Newcastle]]).

When Hope died on December 4, 1862, his wife Anne Adele inherited the gem, but she feared that the profligate lifestyle of her son-in-law might cause him to sell the Hope properties. Upon Adele's death in 1884, the entire Hope estate, including the Hope Diamond, was entrusted to Henrietta's younger son, [[Francis Pelham-Clinton-Hope, 8th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne|Henry Francis Pelham-Clinton]], on the condition that he add the name of "Hope" to his own surnames when he reached the age of legal majority.

As Lord Francis Hope, this grandson received his legacy in 1887. However, he had only a [[Life estate|life interest]] in his inheritance, meaning that he could not sell any part of it without court permission.

In 1894, Lord Francis Hope met the American concert hall singer [[May Yohé]], who has been described as "the sensation of two continents",<ref name="twsI44bb" /> and they were married the same year; one account suggests that Yohé wore the Hope Diamond on at least one occasion.<ref name="twsI44bb" />

She later claimed that she had worn it at social gatherings and had an exact replica made for her performances, but her husband claimed otherwise. Lord Francis lived beyond his means, and this eventually caught up with him, leading to marriage troubles and financial reverses, and he found that he had to sell the diamond.<ref name="twsI44bb" />

In 1896, his [[bankruptcy]] was discharged, but, as he could not sell the Hope Diamond without the court's permission, he was supported financially by his wife during these intervening years. In 1901, the financial situation had changed, and after a "long legal fight,"<ref name="twsI44ff" /> he was given permission to sell the Hope Diamond by an order of the Master in Chancery<ref name="twsI44ff" /> to "pay off debts".<ref name="twsI44ll" /> But May Yohé ran off with a gentleman friend named Putnam Strong, who was a son of the former [[New York City]] mayor [[William L. Strong]]. Francis Hope and May Yohé were divorced in 1902.<ref name="twsI44bb" />

Francis sold the diamond for £29,000 (£{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|0.029|1901|r=2}}}} million today), to Adolph Weil, a London jewel merchant. Weil sold the stone in 1901<ref>{{Cite news |last=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=14 November 1901 |title=£30,000 for the Hope Diamond |work=Leeds Mercury |location=England |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000747/19011114/181/0006 |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 October 2022 |via=British Newspaper Archive}}</ref> to the diamond dealer Simon Frankel, based in New York and/or London<ref name=twsI44bb/> who took it to New York. One report stated that he had paid $250,000 (${{Inflation|US|0.25|1901|r=1|fmt=c}} million today).<ref name="twsI44ff">{{Cite news |date=November 14, 1901 |title=Hope Diamond Coming Here: The Famous Blue Stone Bought by a New Yorker – Price Said to be $250,000. |work=The New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60A10FC3C5F12738DDDAD0994D9415B818CF1D3 |access-date=July 9, 2011 |quote=The report that the famous Hope blue diamond is going to New York is correct. It is in the possession of a member of a New York firm now on his way to America from London. The heirloom was sold by order of the Master in Chancery.}}</ref> However, in New York it was evaluated to be worth $141,032 (${{Inflation|US|0.141032|1901|r=2|fmt=c}} million today).