British media reports that the gold rosary worn by Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland at her execution in 1587 was stolen from Arundel Castle, in the south of England, along with other items worth a total of around €1.16 million.
Late in the evening of Friday, May 21, 2021, the alarm rang in the castle and the police were on site within a few minutes. Several items of great historical value were stolen, the police said in a statement. These include irretrievable treasures, the loss of which would affect the entire nation.
Mary Stuart (1542 – 1587) was Queen of Scotland and was beheaded for participating in a conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth I. She was Catholic and wore two rosaries to her execution. One consisted of hollow gold balls connected with rings.
While her personal Book of Hours, which she also took with her to the scaffold, is kept in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg, the golden rosary was part of the treasure of Arundel Castle and was owned by the Duke of Norfolk. The material value is not very large, the intangible value is considered irreplaceable.
Incidentally, it is suspected that the theft was a commissioned work, either for a private collector or to sell the stolen treasures on the Darknet. At least that's what historian Prof. Kate Williams would like, because then the precious relic would at least not be melted down. However, certain indications give rise to fears of such a purely material motive, as coronation goblets made of silver and gold were stolen, the material value of which is significant.
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