King Edward VII's gift to his mistress was featured in "The Devil Wears Prada"

A unique necklace commissioned by King Edward VII for his mistress, actress Lilly Langtry, is featured in the movie "The Devil Wears Prada." The Egyptian-style jewelry was created by the London jewelry house Hancocks & Co.

The necklace consists of a carved carnelian shell, scarabs, turquoise cabochons, and moonstones. The King's gift to his beloved, with whom he spent time in a house specially built for love affairs in Bournemouth, has an intriguing travel history, the Daily Mail reports.

The Prince of Wales first met socialite Lilly Langtry, later nicknamed the "Jersey Lily" because of her incredible beauty, in the late 1870s at a dinner party in London.

Soon she became one of Edward's mistresses. During their romance, the monarch ordered a necklace from the Hancocks & Co jewelry house, which was first shown by the actress during her debut in the play Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare, where she played the title role.

After that, the item did not come into the public eye for a long time. It is believed that Langtry kept it in her possession for several years. In 2003, the necklace was put up for sale by a private individual at Bonhams. The seller claimed that Lilly had given it to her grandmother.

The Hancocks jewelry house then bought the necklace back for 19,718 pounds sterling (over 1,047,300 hryvnias). Later, the company sold it to New York antiques dealer Fred Layton, who lent the jewelry to costume designer Patricia Field. That's how the jewelry piece ended up in the 2006 movie "The Devil Wears Prada." It was worn by the character Miranda Priestley, played by the legendary Meryl Streep, in combination with a white shirt and a Donna Karan trench coat.

After the filming, the necklace was sold again to its manufacturer, Hancocks, at Sotheby's in New York. The jewelry house displayed the piece in its boutique and then resold it to a private American client.

The jewelry appeared at Christie's in New York in October 2009. This time, Hancocks bought it for 33,500 pounds sterling (over 1,779,468 hryvnias), returning the piece for the third time. The story did not end there. An American collector obsessed with the necklace eventually made a deal with the jewelry house to buy it. Recently, Hancocks managed to return King Edward VII's gift to his mistress for the fourth time. The owner of the company, Amy Burton, told The Telegraph that the jewelry house no longer intends to sell the piece. The necklace will be displayed in the Hancocks boutique along with other historical items, including a Victorian Anglesey tiara.

"This necklace is so special that we will never part with it again," she said. "Hancocks has always made incredible jewelry, and this necklace represents so much history: social, royal, and jewelry history in general. It is a unique piece that ties together so many elements of our 175-year history, and now it has come home. The circle has closed."

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