The King's Loot

The Greatest Royal Jewellery Heist in History

Author: Richard Wallace

Hardcover

The first book to reveal the full extent of King Edward VIII’s looting of jewellery, artworks, furniture and priceless heirlooms from the Royal Collection, and the historic crown conventions he exploited to do it

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Summary

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The first book to reveal the full extent of King Edward VIII's looting. The Duchess of Windsor's notorious jewellery collection was, and still is, the subject of intense speculation regarding not only its murky provenance (were the gems originally sourced clandestinely from the English monarchy's vast royal collection?), but also its eventual controversial dispersal at the close of the 20th century during two celebrated auctions in Geneva and New York. Despite the plethora of general biographical material generated by the Windsor story during the last fifty years, an in-depth, balanced account of the greed and deceit permeating the horde of stolen jewels and artworks they acquired over a lifetime of subterfuge and public denial has never been published. AUTHOR: Richard Wallace is a journalist and author. Having worked in Australia for the Fairfax newspaper organisation, he was posted to Europe in 1986 to cover the death of the Duchess of Windsor and the subsequent Geneva auction of her jewellery collection the following year. Leaving Fairfax, Richard joined the Independent shortly after its creation in 1986 at the request of eccentric founding editor, Andreas Whittam Smith. 20 b/w illustrations

Critic Reviews

'In the new book The King's Loot by Richard Wallace, the author tells the tale of the theft of some of the couple's most expensive jewellery pieces, which was rumoured to be an "inside job".'

Daily Express

'The explosive clues that link Duchess of Windsor to the theft of her own jewellery are revealed in book.'

-- Daily Mail

‘... the author lends credence to the rumour that the theft was, in fact, an ‘inside job’.

TATLER

About the Author

Richard Wallace is a journalist and author. Having worked in Australia for the Fairfax newspaper organisation, he was posted to Europe in 1986 to cover the death of the Duchess of Windsor and the subsequent Geneva auction of her jewellery collection the following year. Leaving Fairfax, Richard joined the Independent shortly after its creation in 1986 at the request of eccentric founding editor, Andreas Whittam Smith.