One of the most iconic pieces in the famed jewellery collection of one of the most controversial queens in Egyptian history was auctioned Wednesday in Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels auction in New York City.
The historic diamond and platinum necklace that was created by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1939 for Queen Nazli, who at the time was known as Her Majesty the Queen Mother of Egypt, sold for nearly $4.3 million Wednesday, according to Rapaport .
Nazli wore the breathtaking necklace, along with a matching tiara and ear pendants, to the historic royal wedding of her daughter Princess Fawzia and the Crown Prince of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Cairo in March of that year.
The diamond and platinum combination consists of 673 baguette-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds set in three rivières that merge in its center to form a “sun” motif from which four rivières are suspended.
The exquisite necklace was the masterpiece of Nazli's one-of-a-kind jewellery collection, which was of a quality and sensationalism that was unrivaled at that time, it still remains one of the largest and most iconic royal jewellery collections in the world.
The necklace was thought to be lost for a considerable amount of time after Nazli was forced to sell the extravagant collection in New York in 1975, as a part of the circumstances that led to her losing her royal status and fortune a few years before the end of her turbulent life.
Nazli, the great granddaughter of French-born Soliman Pasha Al-Faransawi who was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's military commanders, was the second wife of King Fuad I of Egypt and the mother of Egypt's last monarch, King Farouk .
However, Nazli's controversial prominence in history stemmed not from the unhappy marriage to Fuad that she was forced into due to cultural tradition, but the choices that enveloped and defined her life after his death in 1936.
Nazli reportedly started a relationship with top palace official Ahmed Hassanein Pasha and later married him informally, she also reportedly ordered famous Syrian singer Asmahan out of the country when she suspected Hassanein was having an affair with her.
Nazli herself was rumored to have had affairs, including one with government official and future son-in-law Riad Ghali, whom she met in Europe after she left Egypt in 1946 over an apparent health problem and took all of her fortune and jewellery with her. She never returned.
Nazli went to the United States where she converted to Christianity, changed her name to Mary Elisabeth and in 1950 helped Ghali marry her daughter Princess Fathiya against the wishes of the king. Farouk deeply distrusted him as he believed he was taking advantage of his mother and sister, it is also believed he opposed the marriage because Ghali was a Christian commoner.
Although it was one of the many sparks that flared up tensions between Nazli and Farouk, the marriage was the last straw. In response to her rebellion, in August of 1950 Farouk deprived Nazli of her royal rights and privileges, including her tittles, status and the money she received from the monarchy.
She settled into an affluent life in California's Beverly Hills at the beginning of her exile, but she later ran out of money and lost all of her fortune and jewellery as she was forced to declare bankruptcy. Nazli died in 1978 and was buried in a Catholic cemetery in Los Angeles.
Following the end of Nazli's fascinating and troubled life, caught up between royal drama, privilege, fame, and personal tragedy, the iconic necklace disappeared and was believed to be lost.
Now that it has reappeared as Lot 506, the buyer can rest assured that they have acquired more than just a beautiful necklace, but a piece of history that carries with it one extraordinary legacy.