Magnificent and Historical Light Pink Diamond and Diamond Ring 瑰麗及歷史性 13.86克拉 淡粉紅色鑽石 配 鑽石 戒指

Empress Catherine I of Russia (1684-1727)

Sultan Ahmed III (1663-1736)

Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918) 

Princess Emina Ilhamy (1858-1931)

Princess Khadija Hanim

Neslishah Sultan (1921-2012)

Thence by descent

Murat Bardakci, Neslishah – The Last Ottoman Princess, New York, 2011, p. 210 for the history of the historical coloured diamond parure, p. 214 for the wedding gifts of Queens Nazli and Farida and p. 271 for the confiscation of the goods of the Egyptian Royal family in 1953.

Neslishah Sultan (1921-2012): The Last Princess

This collection of jewels (Lots 601-621) belonged the Ottoman Princess Neslishah Sultan (1921-2012) who was married to Muhammad Abdel Moneim (1899-1979), heir apparent of the Mohammed Ali dynasty whose father Abbas Hilmi II ruled as the last Khedive of Egypt from 1892 to 1914. Neslishah Sultan in many ways embodied the end of an era, both in her native Turkey and in Egypt. Her life was characterised by several periods of exile and many lasts. She faced the difficulties and challenges that life threw at her with unshakable grace and dignity.

When Neslishah was born in Istanbul in 1921, her birth entry was the last made into the palace register of Ottoman dynasty members before the fall of the once-mighty Ottoman Empire in 1922. This also signified that she was the last person to be officially bestowed with the title of ‘Sultan’ or Princess of the Imperial Blood. Her paternal grandfather was the last Ottoman Caliph Abdulmejid II (1868-1944), while her maternal grandfather was the last Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin (1918-1926). She grew up in exile in France together with her two sisters Hanzade (1923-1998) and Necla (1926-2006). Just before World War II, the family settled in Egypt where their three beautiful young daughters did not fail to make an impression.

In the late 1930s, Egypt was ruled by King Farouk (1920-1965) of the Mohammed Ali dynasty. During the 19^th century, the Mohammed Ali dynasty governed Egypt as vassals or Khedive of the Ottoman Empire. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 made Egypt a highly strategic economic centre. However, its costly construction was financed by European financial institutions. To save his country from bankruptcy, the Khedive sold Egypt’s controlling shares in the Canal to the British Government. Thus a multi-layered situation occurred where Egypt’s self-governance was hollowed out, nominally by the Ottoman Empire and de facto by the British Empire. In 1914, when Khedive Abbas Hilmi II sided with the Ottomans at the start of World War I, the British immediately established a protectorate, deposed the last Khedive and replaced him with his nephew Hussein Kamel who was given the title of Sultan. Hussein Kamel was in turn succeeded three years later by his brother Fuad who styled himself as King of Egypt in 1922 to underline Egypt’s fragile independence.

In the late 1930s, the Egyptian court was the most dazzling in the world. King Farouk was an avid art collector, while his mother Nazli Sabri (1894-1978) and his four glamorous sisters, the Princesses Fawzia, Faiza, Fathia and Faika, each possessed highly important jewellery collections of their own.

During World War II Egypt was a neutral country. Paradoxically, delegates from all over the world congregated in Cairo and Alexandria where they enjoyed many glamorous social functions, while in the desert, only a few kilometres to the West, the armies of Rommel and Montgomery met. Thus in 1940, when Neslishah Sultan married the King’s cousin and heir apparent, Muhammad Abdel Moneim, she found herself in an environment marked both by great luxury as well as great uncertainty.

One week before her wedding, the groom’s aunt, Princess Khadija Hanim, presented the bride with a historical and highly important parure comprising of a necklace, a pair of earrings, a brooch and a ring (Lot 621) set with rare and important old mine-cut coloured diamonds which Empress Catherine I, widow of Tsar Peter the Great, had gifted to the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III during negotiations for the Treaty of the Pruth in 1711. These diamonds remained in the Ottoman treasury for generations until Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918) gifted them to his cousin Princess Emina Ilhamy (1858-1931), the mother of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II. Neslishah Sultan wore the necklace and brooch from this suite on her wedding day.

During the 1940s and 1950s, she frequently wore the coloured diamond parure at the many glamorous events attended by the Egyptian Royal family. She also wore the necklace as a tiara mounted on a detachable frame. Amongst her wedding gifts featured two brooches, one given by the Queen Mother Nazli Sabri and the other given by King Farouk’s first wife Queen Farida. Neslishah Sultan became a frequent companion of King Farouk's two eldest sisters Fawzia and Faiza and often accompanied them at social and charity functions.

King Farouk was overthrown in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, lead by Gamal Abdel Nasser. As the King went into exile, Neslishah’s husband was appointed as nominal Regent until the official abolition of the monarchy one year later. Thus for a few short months, she served as first lady of Egypt. Sensing the impending danger, Muhammad Abdel Moneim and Neslishah had sent their two children to live with one of her sisters in France. They stayed on in Egypt until 1959, however, under increasingly hostile circumstances. In November 1953, all property of members of the former Egyptian Royal family was confiscated. Neslishah hid her jewellery in her riding clothes and deposited them with a trusted friend under the pretext of going for her habitual morning of horseback riding. Further acquaintances were entrusted with other valuables including jewellery, gold boxes, plate and furs. They all loyally returned them to her in exile a few years later. The couple was eventually allowed to remain in their Cairo residence, but were now charged rent for the rooms they occupied. In 1957, Muhammad Abdel Moneim and Neslishah were placed under house arrest and charged with plotting against the government.

Following two exhausting years of legal proceedings, both were acquitted on all charges and left Egypt for good. At first, they settled in Montreux as Muhammad Abdel Moneim had been educated in Switzerland. Neslishah reluctantly sold the historical coloured diamond parure at Christie’s in London on 22 May 1963. Fortunately, she was able to retain the ring from this suite for her family (Lot 621). In 1964, she and her husband chose to move to Istanbul after the Turkish government had revoked the laws forbidding members of the former Ottoman dynasty to enter the country. In 2012, Neslishah’s funeral became something of national event in Turkey as she had grown into a beloved link to the country’s history, the last Ottoman Princess.