Elizabeth Taylor wearing 'La Peregrina'

The “La Peregrina” pearl is one of the most famous pearls in the world with a recorded history of nearly 500 years. It is a large pear-shaped white nacreous pearl whose original weight was 223.8 grains (55.95 carats). In 1913 after the pearl was drilled, cleaned, and polished, it had a weight of 203.84 grains. The drilling was necessitated in order to secure it firmly to its setting, as the pearl was nearly lost on three different occasions after it had fallen off from its setting.

The pearl was found by an African slave on the coast of the isle of Santa Margarita in the Gulf of Panama in the mid-16th century. Some stories claim that the pearl was found in 1513, but at that time there were no African slaves on the islands. The pearl was given to Don Pedro de Temez, the administrator of the Spanish colony in Panama. The slave who found it was rewarded with freedom.

The pearl entered the Spanish Crown Jewels during the period of rule of King Ferdinand V (1479-1516) or his successor King Charles V (1516-1556). Phillip II (1556-1598) gave the pearl as a gift to Queen Mary I of England (Mary Tudor or Bloody Mary) in anticipation of their marriage in 1554.

Several portraits were painted of Queen Mary wearing the pearl. After her death in 1558, the pearl was returned to the Crown of Spain, where it remained as part of the crown jewelry for the next 250 years. It became one of the favorite ornaments for the Spanish queen consorts of that time. Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain, the wife of Philip III of Spain, wore the pearl for the celebration of the peace treaty between Spain and England in 1605.

In 1808 the elder brother of Napoleon, Joseph Bonaparte, became the king of Spain. His rule continued for five years, and when he was forced to leave the kingdom, after the defeat of the French forces at the Battle of Vitoria, he took some of the crown jewels with him, including La Peregrina. At that time, the pearl got its name “La Peregrina – the Wanderer.”

Queen Mary Tudor and 'La Peregrina' pearl

Richard Burton purchased the pearl at the Sotheby’s auction for $37,000. He gave it to his wife Elizabeth Taylor as a Valentine’s Day gift during their first marriage. On one occasion, the pearl went missing in the Burtons’ suite at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. In her book Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry, Taylor writes:

”At one point I reached down to touch La Peregrina and it wasn’t there! I glanced over at Richard and thank God he wasn’t looking at me, and I went into the bedroom and threw myself on the bed, buried my head into the pillow and screamed. Very slowly and very carefully, I retraced all my steps in the bedroom. I took my slippers off, took my socks off, and got down on my hands and knees, looking everywhere for the pearl. Nothing. I thought, “It’s got to be in the living room in front of Richard. What am I going to do. He’ll kill me! Because he loved the piece.

After few minutes of mental anguish, Taylor looked at their puppies. One of them was apparently chewing on a bone, but nobody gave bones to the puppies. Taylor continues:

I just casually opened the puppy’s mouth and inside his mouth was the most perfect pearl in the world. It was—thank God—not scratched.” / Wikipedia/

Taylor commissioned Cartier to re-design the necklace, setting La Peregrina with pearls, diamonds, and rubies. In 2005 Taylor loaned it to Smithsonian Institution for their “The Allure of Pearls” exhibition.

Elizabeth Taylor died in March 2011, and today her dazzling jewellery collection – including ‘La Peregrina’ is up for sale. I am really curious who will be the lucky owner of this extraordinary , historical jewel.

Henry Carey, Mary's first child

I was inspired to write this article after reading another chapter of new book by David Loades, ‘The Boleyns’. In chapter entitled  ‘Mary & the King’s Fancy – in and out of Favour’ professor Loades states that ;

”Mistress Carey’s charms may have faded, or been replaced by those of her sister, but the indications are that Mary was handed over to her husband at some point in the summer of 1525. Her son, Henry Carey, was born on 4 March 1526, and that suggests that she began to sleep with William at some time in June or July of 1525.” / p. 52 /

”From 1526 onwards Mary is overshadowed by her sister Anne, and glimpses of her in the records become few. She must have spent quite a lot of her time on pregnancy leave, because a few months after Henry’s birth, she had conceived again, and bore William’s second child, a daughter Catherine, at some time in 1527.’‘ / p. 53/

I have to say that I always thought that Catherine Carey was born c. 1524 and thus was Mary Carey’s first child. In her book ‘Mary Boleyn : The True Story of Henry VIII’s Favourite Mistress’ Josephine Wilkinson states that ;

”Mary in fact, was pregnant twice during the time she was Henry’s mistress. The eldest child, Katherine, was born in 1524. The year of her birth is easy to establish from a portrait of her which was painted in 1562. This notes that the sitter was thirty-eight years of age at the time, giving her a birth date of 1524”. / p. 79/

In her new book about Mary Boleyn, Alison Weir also states that Catherine Carey was born c. 1524.

As usually when I have doubts, I reached profesor Eric Ives’ book ‘The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn’ . Profesor Ives states that ;

”Once Mary had begun to cohabit with William Carey, her two children came in quick succession.” /p. 17/

In the notes for this chapter, profesor Ives explains that Henry Carey was Mary’s first child and he was born in March 1526. This makes Catherine Carey the second child.

For centuries historians tried to guess wheather Mary’s children were also Henry VIII’s children. We don’t actually know when Mary’s relationship with the king started and when exactly it ended. We can only guess the time of their romance. David Loades states that in the summer of 1525 Mary was reunited with her husband and she conceived children by him. But another historian, Josephine Wilkinson, claims otherwise :

”However a child born in March would have been conceived in June of the previous year when Henry had not yet discarded Mary.” /p. 80 /

The important question is – did Henry VIII father Mary Carey’s children? We should first take a look on Henry VIII’s children : during his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry fathered at least six children, but only one of them – princess Mary – survived infancy. At some point  Henry VIII knew that his wife will not be able to provide him more children, and he took a mistress – young lady-in-waiting, Elizabeth ‘Bessie’ Blount. Bessie gave birth to a healthy baby boy in June 1519, and the king acknowledged baby as his son. The boy received a name Henry – after his royal father, and a surname ‘Fitzroy’ that meant ‘son of the King’. He was the first son of 28-year-old Henry VIII and the king soon bestowed a title of Duke of Richmond on him.

Henry VIII never aknowledged Mary’s children as his own. They received Mary’s husband’s surname, Carey, and perhaps this is an indication that they were indeed William Carey’s children.

Other possible explanation of why Henry VIII never acknowledged Mary’s children as his own is the fact that he developed his interest in Mary’s younger sister, Anne Boleyn. At the Shrovetide in 1526 the king appeared at joust displaying a motto ‘Declare I dare not’  which was a clear indication towards Anne Boleyn and Henry’s respect for Anne’s decision of preserving her virginity.

How could Henry VIII acknowledge Mary’s children ash his own, when he was pursuing her sister? That would have caused a scandal, considering the fact that king wanted to marry Anne Boleyn and his previous affair with Mary caused some problems – Henry must have appealed to Rome for a dispence.

Catherine Carey

The other possible explanation is the fact, that Henry VIII knew that he must have a legitimate son. He believed that a woman can never wear a crown and thus was eager to provide a male heir. But Catherine of Aragon was already barren, with no chance of conceiving another child. That is why Henry turned his back on her, and took mistresses. But even if Henry recognized Bessie Blount’s son as his own, Henry Fitzroy was only an illegitimate son, who would probably never inherit the throne. Henry knew that so he didn’t need more illegitimate children.

And what about the rumours that young Henry Carey looked like king Henry VIII? Did he really bear resemblance to the king? John Hale, Vicar of Isleworth wrote to the Council in 1535 that :

“Moreover, Mr. Skydmore dyd show to me yongge Master Care, saying that he was our suffren Lord the Kynge’s son by our suffren Lady the Qwyen’s syster, whom the Qwyen’s grace myght not suffer to be yn the Cowrte.” / LP, VIII. 567/

Profesor Eric Ives pointed out that such rumours were spread by Catherine of Aragon’s supporters.

And what about the fact, that Anne Boleyn became Henry Carey’s ward after William Carey’s death? It could have been an act of mercy since Anne was Mary’s sister, and Mary found herself in a difficult financial position after her husband’s death. But it could have been also a sign that Henry VIII wished to take care of his illegtimate son.

Whatever the case is, I think that today it is really hard to say if Henry and Catherine Carey were Henry VIII’s children. Perhaps they were, perhaps not – but certainly they both played a political role during Elizabeth I’s reign. Elizabeth was very fond of her Boleyn relatives but it doesn’t meant that it was because they were Henry VIII’s children. I think that for Elizabeth they were mostly the Boleyns, family of her mother. Henry Carey knew Anne Boleyn when he was a boy, and he certainly had a lot to tell Elizabeth about her mother.

Bibliography :

Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn

David Loades, ”The Boleyns’

Alison Weir, ”Mary Boleyn : The Great and Infamous Whore”

Josephine Wilkinson, ”Mary Boleyn : The True Story of Henry VIII’s Favourite Mistress”

LP, VIII. 567