ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
A 24 carat gold jewel, engraved with the initials h and k and linked to Catherine of Aragon’s 1518 tournament, was unearthed by metal detectorist Charlie Clarke.
The British Museum launched a £3.5 million campaign to secure the Tudor Heart, a 24-carat gold pendant linked to the court of Henry VIII. The drive, which runs until April 2026, opened with a £500,000 gift from the Julia Rausing Trust and now seeks public donations.
“We want as many people in the world to see it,” said actor Damian Lewis in a museum video, according to the Sun. Museum director Nicholas Cullinan added, “The Tudor Heart is perhaps one of the most incredible pieces of English history ever unearthed,” according to Het Nieuwsblad.
הצגת פוסט זה באינסטגרם
פוסט משותף על ידי British Museum (@britishmuseum)
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If the target is not met, the pendant will be offered to private buyers. British treasure law grants museums the first option to purchase such finds; any sale proceeds are split between the finder and the landowner, giving café owner Charlie Clarke the prospect of £1.75 million.
Clarke discovered the jewel in 2019 while metal-detecting in a Warwickshire field. “I shrieked like a schoolgirl,” he said, calling the find “a discovery that happens once in a lifetime, even if you live 30 lives,” according to Het Nieuwsblad. He reported the piece under the Treasure Act of 1996, after which the museum took custody.
Scholars believe Henry VIII commissioned the heart-shaped pendant for his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, possibly for an October 1518 tournament celebrating their daughter Mary’s engagement to the French heir. The gold surface bears the initials “H” and “K,” the word “tousiors” (an archaic form of “always”), a Tudor rose, and Catherine’s pomegranate entwined on a single stem.
The pendant is valued at £3.5 million. “If we secure this work as a national possession, future generations will be able to see it and marvel at it,” said Cullinan, according to Het Nieuwsblad.
