| The legendary Hope Diamond rotates
slowly behind a thick wall of bulletproof
glass, reflecting the halogen
lighting in flashes of brilliance as
it moves. It is the most popular exhibit in the
Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum for three
reasons: its magnificence, its value and its famous
curse. The stone is said to bring misfortune and
death to anyone who owns it.
The infamous gem first came to Washington
via one of its last owners, Evalyn Walsh McLean.
She was an heiress to a gold
mine fortune and in 1909
married the equally wealthy
Ned McLean, whose father
made his money in natural gas
and owned The Washington
Post. The rich young couple
quickly became the stars of
Washington society. Their
60-acre “Friendship” estate
in Northwest Washington,
and its huge Georgian
mansion, became the mecca
for the most spectacular
parties in town, including
one that Evalyn gave for 48
friends which cost her $40,000. But then, she
also spent a million dollars on a party to celebrate
her dog’s birthday. While Ned imported sod from
Switzerland to build an 18-hole golf course
on the estate for his pal, President Warren G.
Harding, party-going Cole Porter immortalized
Evalyn in his song “Anything Goes” which
includes a verse about “Missus Ned McLean
(God bless her) ... .” |
The McLeans’ encounter with the Hope
Diamond took place in Paris in 1911. Jeweler
Pierre Cartier visited them at the Hotel Bristol
to show them a bauble they might like. Mrs.
McLean didn’t like its setting, so Cartier reset the jewel and presented it to them
two months later. Cartier told
her how its owners met with
bad luck and how it had once
hung around the
neck of the ill-fated
Marie Antoinette,
but Evalyn was a
non-conformist.
She believed that what was unlucky for others
would bring her good fortune. More importantly,
she believed the diamond would guarantee her
celebrity back in Washington. Ned agreed; they
bought it for the fabulous sum of $180,000 and
brought it back to “Friendship.”
Evalyn wore the diamond almost every day.
She warned others not to touch it, for fear the
curse would rub off on them. When the young
couple returned home from France, Ned’s mother
and a friend both picked up the stone to examine
it more closely. They both died within the year.
It was the first in a string of misfortunes. Ned
and Evalyn’s son Vinson, dubbed the “Million Dollar Baby” when he was
born, was hit by a car while
crossing Wisconsin Avenue in
front of the Friendship |
Estate,
and died a few days later. Ned
McLean’s connection with
President Harding ruined
his reputation when the
president got mixed up in the
Teapot Dome scandal. Ned
became a hopeless alcoholic
and got involved in a series
of well-publicized infidelities
and scandals. Eventually the
bankrupt Washington Post
was sold at auction to Eugene
Meyer, father of Katharine
Graham. Ned McLean ended
up in an insane asylum and
died there in 1941. Evalyn’s daughter died a few
years later of a drug overdose.
Evalyn was in and out of debt for the
remaining years of her life, pawning the
precious Hope Diamond whenever she
ran short of funds. She died in 1947 from
an infection she got while recovering from
a broken hip. It may or may not have been
due to the curse, but the McLeans managed
to run through a combined inheritance of
over $100 million (which would be billions
in today’s dollars).
Evalyn never blamed the Hope Diamond
for her misfortunes. In her book Father Struck
It Rich, she said, “tragedies, for anyone who
lives, are not escapable.” After her death, the
diamond was sold at auction to jewelry store
magnate Harry Winston, who donated it to the
Smithsonian, where it is visited every week by
thousands of people. The three-inch thick walls
of glass prevent curious viewers from touching
the stone, and that’s probably just as well. |
