Prince Albert and the great diamond debacle by Karla Stover

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The entire diamond business rests on two supports—vanity and greed.

                                                              1997, anonymous

In 1850, James Andrew Broun-Ramsay. Earl of Dalhousie and India’s governor-general had the Koh-i-Noor diamond “sewn and double-sewn into a belt secured around his waist, one fastened of the best to a chain around my neck,” and left Lahore for Bombay where the gem would start its journey to England. “My stars! What a relief to get rid of it,” he wrote a friend.

Though it may be older, in 1304 the diamond is known to have belonged to Allaudin Khiliji, the Emperor of Dehli. Five years later, records written in Hindu reveal a curse was place on it—to wit: “He who owns this diamond will own the world but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity.” The gem was returned to its place of origin, Samarkand, in 1339.
Curse or not, the diamond was gifted by the Sultan Ibrahim Lodi to Babur Muhammad, founder and first Emperor of the Mughal dynasty. One of Babur’s descendants, protected the diamond and passed it on to his heirs.

Sadly, the dynasty was weakening and in 1739, the Persian general Nadir Shah went to India intending to conquer the throne. The reigning sultan lost a decisive battle and surrendered to Nadir. It was Nadir who first called the diamond Koh-i-noor, meaning Mountain of Light. After his assassination in 1747, he lost the “Light,” and Generals, Ahmad Shah Durrani became the next owner. In 1813, his descendants, Shah Shuja Durrani took the stone back to India and gave it to Ranjit Singh, Maharaja of Punjab and founder of the Sikh Empire.

Enter Great Britain whose forces defeated those of the Punjab and confiscated their properties. The Koh-i-noor was transferred to the treasury of the British East India Company in Lahore. The diamond was shipped to Britain on a ship where a story goes that cholera broke out and the keeper of the diamond lost it for some days before his servant returned it. On July 3, 1850, the diamond was handed to Queen Victoria. Shortly after, and in keeping with the curse, a man named Robert Pate struck her in the head while she was riding in her carriage.

In 1850, while the queen was giving birth to Prince Arthur, getting a diamond, and getting hit, her husband Prince Albert was working on the Great Exhibition, the first-ever international exhibition of manufactured products. People wanted to see the famed diamond, so it was put on display. A near riot ensued when crowds mobbed the building in which it was housed. For their efforts, the people were met with disappointment. Indian diamond cutters polished to preserve size not for maximum brilliance, and the Koh-i-Noor just didn’t sparkle.

Prince Albert undertook the task of making the stone more attractive to the western eye. He called in experts to examine the diamond and eventually chose a Dutch firm. In 1843, Queen Victoria made the House of Garrard the court’s Crown Jewelers. First, a small steam engine was assembled there, the cutters arrived from Holland, and the Duke of Wellington rode up on a white charger to watch. The engine driving the grinding wheel was fired up. The protective wrap made of lead was removed to reveal the first bit of the stone that was to be ground off. The price put the gem on the diamond Scaife grinding machine and the first angle was made.

All in all, it took 38 days for the Koh-i-Noor to “reduce the diamond from 186 carats to 108.03. Prince Albert was dismayed at the loss of weight, and rumors of the curse were repeated. In the end, Queen Victoria only wore the diamond occasionally. Her will stipulated that only a female queen should wear the Koh-i-noor, or if the head of state was a man, his wife would have to carry the diamond. After her death, the Koh-i-noor became part of the Crown Jewels.

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Setting Goals and Achieving Them...

 Off The Grid - by Rita Karnopp ~ Living in the woods, surrounded by nature, is a fantasy of those living within the unethical confines of society.  But when you’re seventeen, even thinking about walking through the woods conjures up ghastly visions.

   Taylar must forgive her father’s intentional betrayal of bringing her family to live in the remote Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana.  Hundreds of miles from civilization, she must put aside her fears and do her part to help her family survive the challenges of dense wilderness, mountain lions, bear, rattlesnakes, and the worst animal of all – man.

Will their father realize that their neighbors aren’t what they appear to be . . . before it’s too late?  Will her almost sixteen-year-old sister, Brook, who loves hunting and nature, have what it takes to guide them out of the untamed wilderness and back to civilization?

I'm often asked how I work full-time and write several books a year ... and my quick response is ... I set goals. 

I firmly believe if you set a goal ... you can achieve anything.  Some days it's a struggle and others ... not so bad ... even good.  But the feeling you get from reaching that goal is beyond rewarding.

Here are three simple steps on setting goals and achieving them.  Setting a goal is important – in every aspect of your life.  Personally and professionally.  For most of us, creating a goal brings about a positive change. The bottom line is when you write down a goal, you’re creating a challenge for yourself. There are three things you need to remember when setting goals.

First, you must write It Down -  Once you’ve written that goal on a piece of paper … you’ve made a commitment.  Put that goal somewhere you’ll look at it often, or pass by several times a day. Like your refrigerator or on your computer.  It’s important to remember … write your goal in the positive.  For instance, don’t write, “I need to lose twenty pounds.”  Instead write, “I'm excited to lose twenty pounds by July 1^st, 2018.  Now you have a defined goal and a deadline date.  Keep in mind – a goal should be written in a short, easy sentence.

Second, break down your goal … so it’s manageable.   Maybe you’ve set a goal to lose twenty pounds.  Saying I’m going to lose twenty pounds not only sounds horrifying … the reality is it’s going to be a difficult thing to accomplish.  That's why you need to break your goal down into its different parts, because smaller goals are easier to handle. Losing twenty pounds seems overwhelming, but losing a pound a month for ten months is doable.

The third part of setting goals is to read your goal at least once … even twice a day.
Let’s face it, we get busy and your goals can sometimes be a nuisance … or you just don’t feel like striving toward that goal.  Unacceptable.  You’ve written down your goal and you’ve posted them where you know you’ll see them often. Your fridge, bathroom mirror, or on your computer.  Now it’s time to reinforce that goal.  Read your goal with enthusiasm, out loud, and with commitment.

This one sentence reminder can help you reach those goals … and it will change your life.  I have proof … I’m forty-two pounds lighter and I just finished my 19^th book, Secrets of Echo Cave (releasing in September 2018).  Without goal setting … I doubt I’d have achieved any of it.