Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey (1875 – 1905), managed to squander an inheritance worth $75 million in today’s money on clothes, furs, jewels and more – including a 100-carat diamond tiara now on sale by London jeweler Hancocks
Paget, whose family owned estates in Staffordshire, Dorset, Anglesey and Derbyshire, spent his entire inheritance in five years “and died penniless of tuberculosis in Monte Carlo,” according to IDEX Online. The diamond tiara that he purchased, and which was made in 1890, was one of the few items that weren’ sold to repay creditors. It was passed on to his cousin Charles Paget, and was subsequently worn to the coronations of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II.
London jeweler Hancocks is displaying the tiara ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations and will then sell it. Guy Burton, Hancocks’ director, said: “[…] “As tiaras go, this one truly is magnificent and has to be one of if not the best in class we’ve ever seen and we’re delighted to offer it for sale. It really is a jewel with amazing provenance given its rich history along with the fact that it was worn for not one but two royal coronations.”
