A ring at auction leads to the discovery of the theft of a Jordanian princess's jewelry

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Princess Faryal of Jordan did not know that her jewelry had been stolen, until she received a call asking if she was offering it for sale.

The question led her to a British auction catalogue, with a picture of a ring specially designed for her on its cover, so she began a journey to trace her belongings, leading to the trial of a former employee accused of stealing them, according to what The National News reported.

Before Southwark Court in London, the princess recounted how she recognized her ring, then discovered that other pieces had been offered at previous auctions, and how she tried to prove her ownership of this jewelry, while the former employee denied the theft accusation.

The story began in November 2020, when Pierre Janet, partner of the jewelry house “Jar,” contacted the princess inquiring about selling some of her possessions. When she denied putting it up for sale, he told her that jewelry belonging to her had appeared at an auction in Canterbury.

Then when she looked at the catalog, she recognized her engagement ring studded with rubies and diamonds. She testified that its unique design, which was made especially for her, left her in no doubt that it was her ring. This prompted her to search for other pieces. She obtained the catalogs of three previous auctions held during the same year, and found more of her jewelry among their pages.

After discovering these pieces, the princess tried to alert the auction house, but she said that her first attempts were met with skepticism. Therefore, she used purchase documents and photos showing her wearing some jewelry, along with photos documenting the presence of pieces inside her home, to prove her ownership.

After collecting these documents, an investigation began into how the jewelry left the house and reached the auctions. To trace what happened, the case went back to the months before her disappearance was discovered.

In March 2020, with the beginning of the Corona pandemic, the Princess left London for Jordan, while her employee, Maria Verkhelina Taborda Henao, remained at her home in the Belgravia neighborhood. The 71-year-old employee had worked for the princess for 11 years. The prosecution accuses her of taking the jewelry without permission, which she denies during the trial.

For its part, the police, as part of the investigation, searched the accused’s home, where, according to what the prosecution presented before the court, they found a wedding ring inside a coat, a necklace in a cupboard in the kitchen, and earrings inside an envelope.

The prosecution also addressed the role of the accused’s nephew, Julian Ramirez, in delivering jewelry to the auction and selling it. The court is still examining the case, and no final ruling has been issued.

Thus, a ring designed specifically for Princess Faryal, the former wife of Prince Mohammed bin Talal, led to the discovery of the disappearance of other jewelry, after she recognized it on the cover of a catalog that she did not expect to find her possessions among its pages.