The following letter was published in The Daily Telegraph on November 12 under the headline “Relics of a murther”. It was prompted by an article entitled “Dukes’ art treasures come into the light”, which had appeared three days earlier, about the remarkable art collection assembled by successive Dukes of Portland at their seat, Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire, over more than 400 years.
(In the nineteenth century the eccentric Tory 5th Duke made himself a laughing-stock by living as a hermit in a set of vast underground rooms that were constructed for him.).
The Telegraph article was illustrated with a beautiful pearl earring given to the family by Charles I’s granddaughter, Queen Mary II, wife of William III.
SIR-The pearl earring worn by Charles I at his execution in 1649 is not the only such relic in the Portland collection (report, November 9).
It is accompanied by a gold toothpick given to a faithful follower the previous evening; the garter ribbon Charles wore upon the scaffold; and a chalice which has a contemporary inscription at its foot. This reads: “King Charles the First: received the Communion in this Boule: on Tuesday the 30th of January 1648 being the day in which he was Murthered” (1648 rather than 1649, because the new year then began on March 25).
Lord Lexden
London SW1