Prince Michael of Kent - The Vladimir Jewels

In the Caucasus, Grand Duchess Vladimir realizes she has unable to return to St. Petersburg

where she has money and jewels locked away in the safe in the Vladimir Palace

She was determined to try and get these jewels out, and she was helped here by her son Boris

And they had this friend called Albert Stopford. Albert Stopford was a remarkable figure

because for all his rather dandyish appearance, He must have been quite a strong character and quite a brave man

Albert Stompford is British and with his diplomatic status can move freely in chaotic Russia

He dresses like a workman and sneaks into the Vladimir Palace after dark

So he got in at night, and he took with him two big Gladstone bags

And he went to the safe, and he took everything out of the safe

And he managed to get these bags with the jewels. One of them apparently had 25 tiaras So this was delicate cargo fragile and heavy and how to pretend that

you're workmen carrying a bag of oil plumbers tools and in fact you're

carrying that kind of cargo and that was the easy part because then he had two

big problems jewels and cash and so the money had to be got to her and the

jewels had to be got out of Russia. Stopford runs the risk of being shot should he be caught with his bag stuffed with jewels

He probably hides them with the director of the Imperial Academy of Arts

The Bolsheviks are keeping a close eye on Stopford, so he has problems getting the Grand Duchess's jewels out of Russia

But finally, a solution presents itself. The British Navy has been on manoeuvres in the area and is withdrawing

its troops. As luck will have it, one of the Marines is also named Stopford. As a diversion

this Marine is sent back to England via Siberia, Japan and America. And the next day

Stopford the gentleman picks up the jewels at the Academy of Arts and travels the short distance

across Europe to England, where he places the valuables in a safe deposit box in a bank