The
Royal Pair were conducted in splendid state to Greenwich, and on to
Westminster, where they were married. A few months afterwards they were
divorced; and on August the 8th of the same year, Catherine Howard was
declared Queen of England.
Lord
Curzon, in describing the Palace of the late Shah of Persia, as it was
during 1889, helps to confirm this impression of Oriental love for
precious stones, the precious metals, and a profuse display of splendid
gems about their palaces, and their persons.
He
tells of Royal crowns, superb tiaras, a throne covered with Rubies and
Emeralds, a globe of Jewels worth three hundred thousand pounds, and a
glass case containing a vast heap of Pearls. There was also the Peacock
Throne, encrusted with Diamonds, of fabulous value ; and the celebrated
" Sea of Light "— sister Diamond to the Koh-i-noor. Moreover, an occult
faith in special virtues attached to these rich possessions still
obtains implicitly in the Eastern mind.
Later
on, Mr. Fraser, visiting the same Palace, found himself surrounded by a
mass of wealth unequalled in the world. " Down each side of the room
were chairs covered entirely with sheeted gold ; and at intervals were
tables of gold (but nailed with the commonest of cheap, black-headed
tacks). The Throne itself, which has been valued at five million pounds
sterling, and is probably worth more than two million pounds, is a
great camp-bed structure encrusted from end to end, and from top to
bottom, with Diamonds. At the back is a star of Brilliants which makes
the eyes blind."
Again,
Mr. T. P. O'Connor, writing about the new Shah, 1907, says that this
new Sovereign, Mahomed AH, " succeeds to what is without doubt the most
magnificent
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