DRAG-NET OUT

Evening Star, Issue 25927, 19 October 1946, Page 7

DRAG-NET OUT

THE WINDSOR JEWEL ROBBERY BIGGEST THAT HAS EVER OCCURRED IN ENGLAND LONDON, October 18. A police drag-net was out lust night} for jewel thieves who, between 5.30 p.m. and 6 p.m: oa Wednesday* robbed the Duke and Duchess of Windsor of gems variously estimated between £20,000 and £500,000. The ‘ Daily Telegraph ’ says that £25.000 worth of jewels was recovered scattered across the golf course near Ednam Lodge. It points out that the, Duchess’s jewels in 1937 were insured! for £150,000. An assessor, commenting on this, declared that the value of the jewellery insured in 1937 would! easily have been /trebled. ■ ■ ■ The police have not yet been able to detail a full list of the lost jewels, but the ‘ Daily Mail’s ’ crime investigator states that Scotland Yard assured him that the jewels taken were worth at least £500,000. The robbery is the biggest that has ever occurred in England. Mr A. G. Allen, senior partner of the firm of lawyers who manage the Windsors’ financial affairs, said' it had not been possible yet to get a. full valuation; but the figures authorised for publication were. about £20,000 worth of jewels missing,- and about£s,ooo worth recovered. He added that the assessors were still engaged m estimating the full value of the recovered jewellery. Police reinforcements searched! cafes, dubs, and garages in Central London, and seaport® and airfields are being watched. The ‘ Daily Telegraph ’ thinks that a gang of international thieves—probably the same brains as those behind the haul of art treasures at Hever Castle—-planned the raid. ! The thieves swooped at the time the Duke of Windsor was visiting the King at Buckingham Palace,- and the Special Branch detective who accompanies him everywhere j was with him there. Nevertheless, there were seven servants at Ednam Lodge, and a police guard at the front entrance when the robbers “ lifted ” the jewels from the duchess’s bedroom..

There is also a strong theory that the robbery was carried out by an experienced cat burglar, assisted by several confederates who had been able to obtain a detailed lay-out of the house. The thief or thieves evidently wore gloves. ‘The Times ’ says it is believed that the thieves climbed up a drainpipe and got through a window. The duchess’s famous jewellery included a headdress of half-circle .platinum set with five large diamonds, a large jewelled orchid, made of pearls, ancf coloured precious stones, a gold mesh bracelet coupled with diamonds, a platinum charm bracelet with- each piece inscribed from the Duke, a gold brooch set with rubies-, a double choker pearl necklace, a diamond and ruby pecklace, and a half-inch square emerald engagement ring. There were complete sets of jewellery in blue sapphire, ruby, emerald, diamond, -topaz, onyx and turquoise.