GREAT JEWEL ROBBERY.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 9835, 7 August 1900, Page 7

GREAT JEWEL ROBBERY.

The Princess and the Premier.

1 The excitement par excellence of the moment in society is (writes a London correspondent) the adroit robbery of the Princess Radziwill's famous pearls whilst that large aud luscious Hungarian magnate was giving a dejeuner a la fourchette (otherwise lunch) to our grand old Premier at the West End Hotel, where she resides when in town. Princess Radziwill was on the point of starting for Paris when the robbery took place. She had everything in readings for the journey, except the pearls, which lay in their cases in the wardrobe of her room. The door of this wardrobe was locked, and the key was in her pocket when the Princess went downstairs to lunch. Her room also was locked, but the key was left in the door. The story goes that Madame's tete-a-tete meal with the Marquis had baiely reached a sublimely contrived nupreme de volaiVe when the French maid came in white and squealing; " Has your Highness taken your jewellery ?" asked the maid. " No," said the Princess. " Then it's gone," replied the maid, greatly distressed. Lunch ended in a most informal fashion. At once the Princess started from the table to examine for herself, adjuring her hungry guest to discuss the remaining dishes by himself. When phfie&ched the room she found everything gone — everything but one section of the pearl rope, which lay in a dark corner of the wardrobe, a little valueless brooch, and, strangely enough, the purse of gold prepared for the Paris journey, which lay untouched on the dressing table. As far as can be learned, the missing jewels were : A historic rope of pearls, consisting of 150 pearls, each twenty-two grains in weight, and two pear-shaped pendant pear's. Acolarette of the pattern known to society a 9 a "dog collar" with nine rows of small pearls and imitation diamond slides and fastening. Several bracelets of great value, including a curb-chain bracelet, with hold-watch attached; a gold-wire flexible bracelet with, a Russian N on it; a curb bracelet, with alternately three links of gold and three platinum. A bracelet set with fine emeralds, the gift of the Ameer. A brooch set with large sapphires and diamonds. A chain of heavy gold, once the property of the uncle of the Princess, and chit fly valuable to herself. So soon as her Highness discovered the extent of the loss a telephone message was sent to Scotland Yard, and a written message through Lord Salisbury, to Sir Matthew White Ridley, with the result that the Home Office and " the "Yard " at once took the hotel under their protection, and the district retounded with the tramp of detectives' feet. Seven days have passed, and no trace has been found of the pearls, valued ai £10,000. In the meanwhile the Princess has postponed her visit to Paris, and is still residing in the hotel, to which all interviewers are forbidden access. Society ; s much interested in the robbery. The Princess is related to the Princess Blucher yon Wah'stadt, to Prince Michael Radziwill, recently at the Russian Embassy, and other members of a family well known in Loudoo society. She is a very handsome woman of 45, and has a son just gazetted to a Russian regiment, and now on his was to Tientsin. Only a few clays before the robbery the Princess was photographed in all her lost jewellery. All the usual steps have been taken to notify English jewellers and pawnbrokers and Continental dealers, but the police have little expectation of recovering any of the articles complete.