KEY POINTS:
A set of pearls once belonging to Marie Antoinette and taken to Britain by a friend for safekeeping will go on sale in December, and are expected to fetch up to US$800,000 ($1 million).
They are now part of a diamond, ruby and pearl necklace.
France's last queen gave a bag of pearls and diamonds to Lady Sutherland, the British ambassador's wife, when she fled revolutionary France in 1792, a year before the queen's execution.
"When you are in a dire situation, there are not many people you can trust and the key was to give the jewels to someone with diplomatic immunity,&
34; said Raymond Sancroft&
45;Baker, senior director of Christie's jewellery in London.
Marie Antoinette, legendary for her extravagance, did not know her fate at the time, he said, and would have hoped to be reunited with her treasures one day.
"Hope springs eternal."
Marie Antoinette was guillotined in October 1793.
- Reuters
