On 19 April The Daily Telegraph reported that the Indian government had for the first time publicly stated that the Kohinoor diamond had been legally acquired by the British Crown. Alistair Lexden supplied some details about its last Indian owner in a letter published in the paper on 22 April.
SIR--The Kohinoor diamond became Queen Victoria’s property in 1849, but she had to wait until 1854 before it was placed in her hands by its last Indian owner, the 16-year-old Maharajah Duleep Singh (“Britain should keep Kohinoor diamond, it was a gift, says India”, 19 April).
She liked the donor almost as much as the jewel. “He is extremely handsome and speaks perfect English”, she noted.
Later in life the royal favourite lost his looks and went badly off the rails. After failing to become Tory candidate in Whitby against Gladstone’s son, he spent much time with Piccadilly prostitutes to whom valuable gems were liberally dispensed. It is fortunate that the Kohinoor was firmly in Queen Victoria’s possession.
Lord Lexden
London SW1