Stealing The World’s Most Expensive Necklace • Puppet History

[Music] well come on in all the puppet history today we'll be taking an ever winding look at yet another chapter in the heavy heavy book we call history while our guests ruthlessly compete for the coveted title of history master I'm obviously your beloved host the professor Thank You Ryan for Gaara are you ready yeah special guest Kate Peterman are you ready I am so ready then let's crack in you guys like to know what you're playing for yeah it's the coveted cup of the history master same prizes last time cool well I'm excited well let's get to it today's tale is a downright caper it started out as a simple con and turned into a scandal that would captivate all of France and forever alter the course of history and also be adapted into a movie starring Hilary Swank that I've never seen because they don't let puppets in the movie theater unrelated question have you guys ever been catfished I thought so but I just was fully rejected hot in here oh yeah to personal yeah place France the time the 1780s before this nutty plot unfolds we need to lay out three of our key players first up Gene Lamont born Jean de Valois it's tipping close she's a say it no no I was gonna say an unmodified I'm not judging there's no nipple for the record no I don't look at it man I just want to loop this puppet saying nipple there's no nipple and him staring intently at her breasts I don't see nothing anyway she was born in 1756 with a little royalty in her blood as her father was a descendant of an illegitimate son of Henry the second a bass French King from way back in the 1500s yes a bastard despite her royal blood by the time Jean was born her family was really hurtin for that sweet sweet coin as a child her parents made her beg on the street shouting quote gentlemen or ladies take compassion on a poor orphan descended in a direct line from Henry the second king of France after a rough childhood and plenty of her own adolescent scheming she eventually settled down with a military man named Nicholas D'Adamo who looks exactly like every other French man in the 1700s but despite his position and her ongoing claimed royalty the two were still hard up for cash we'll check back in on them in just a bit what did she do for cash as well did I where they duel incoming it she kind of like schemed her way around she eventually like what else hear about these schemes I want to hear more about she goes to the court and she was like yo my dad was the illegitimate son of King Henry the second and they were like you know what we're gonna give you some money every month so that's how she kind of made you know so she just went up to officials and said hey I know the guy in charge give me some cash and that's it like everybody do that well you would get real beheaded you're also saying that the very threat of a guillotine was enough to make them think why would she chance oh yeah I mean they were using that thing left and right they weren't on to our second person of interest do we dare ohon born in 1734 to the distinguished rohan clan author Jonathan Beckman describes him as quote impeccably polite with full dark eyes that shone under gently drooping eyelids Louis charmed everyone he met and accumulated a pantheon of lovers kind of sounded a little bit like erotica to me yes I did omit all the yum yum yum yeah [Music] [Laughter] he never looks happy he looks indifferent or very disappointed and angry after some time in the circuit Rohan landed a pretty cushy gig in 1770 as ambassador to Vienna and although he thought the position was below his status he took it anyway if he quickly gained a reputation in Austria for his wild-ass parties where he really ruffled feathers Oh summon your brains what aspect of Rohan social gatherings was so controversial a his performance of what he called genital origami white be his risque seating charts or see his collection of monkeys I'm gonna go with testicle entanglement okay same i also gonna go with a yeah well it's kind of boring but it's monkeys isn't it it's the seating chart what so normally an O in partying chart I thought you said seating as it like never mind that guy had something way grosser in my mind well you followed it after now I'm explaining myself huh I feel like I have to explain myself when you said genital origami I figure you were upping the ante sexually so I thought you said seating chart as if he's trying a chart out of who he's going to well that's insane that is absolutely insane get it all origami yeah and you said what would be why would you why would you well he had small tables is the is the answer normally had affairs like that they'd have one big cartoon rich person table and everybody would kind of be in the order of like oh rich people down at this end poor nobodies down at this end mm-hmm but he had a bunch of tiny tables where everyone could mingle kind of fun that's kind of cool yeah and everybody hate with like people got pissed pissed drunk know one of the people who was not pleased about this was the local head honcho Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa who complained about him to anyone who would listen Rohan in return bragged on Maria behind her back eventually the Empress's daughter caught wind of this and got pissed which could pose some problems for RO hens political aspirations because her daughter was none other than our third person of interest here today it's question time you thought you were safe but another question has pounced just who in the hell was Maria Theresa's daughter there is no multiple choice you must write it down guess what my name is yeah pulling out the stops with these questions right answer I don't even think this is person is from that type okay Antoinette Marie Antoinette how do you spell okay well I just put and I probably spelled it wrong too Maria Therese in a second okay what well Ryan gets a point cuz it's none other than powdered wig wearing cheap perfume and cake eatin Queen herself Marie Antoinette son of a [ __ ] I really want that trophy okay great question doctor we could spend a lot of time unpacking this lady's life but if you don't know the basics she was born into Austrian royalty married off to French royalty at age 14 stepped into queen hood at age 18 and gets a lot of flack because she eventually became a prominent scapegoat during the French Revolution despite not really being called that bad of a lady well now that we have her three players in mind let's jump into the Palace of Versailles in the year 1784 when all three parties happen to be present worth noting that the Palace of Versailles was a hive of activity that pretty much anyone could walk around though people were probably quick to sniff out if you weren't a noble so Louie de Rohan was now serving on the French Court as grand almond er but he was desperate to be Prime Minister and believed that the position was being withheld from him due to Marie Antoinette outright loathing his ass Jean in her ongoing quest to cash in on her royal lineage had moved near Versailles with her husband to hobnob now Jean had recently been acquainted with Rohan and was aware of the Queen's refusal to even speak to him so as a person desperate to climb the social ladder what do you suppose she does with this information when they cross paths at Versailles hey she blackmails him be she tells the Queen he's going to assassinate her or see she tells Rohan she's the Queen's best friend what to do what to do oh boy when in doubt they say that's what Brian well I put B you could be I think we know a Kate pick okay cue pixie I'm good well let's find out what happens Oh [Music] Cardinal Rohan fancy seeing you here oh hello hello what what are you doing around for a sign oh you know just being a visit to a friend oh is that so and who might that be huh Oh Oh my friend Oh her royal I mean uh oh just some plain Jane you don't know Jin whatever are you playing at mmm fine it's the Queen I'm friends with the Queen the Queen is my best friend house it's the biggest secret in the world but yes best friends for life what more can I say we're just playing friend this script sucks like the history when in doubt pixie god damn it the prophecy fulfills itself oh there is so yeah she lied to him so Kate get the point history point O so Rohan was obviously not in a position to confirm or deny this may have sounded outlandish but since the Queen was known to buck tradition maybe it was it so he ate it up Rohan was eager to have gene put in a good word for him so she offered him a great opportunity right the Queen a letter so he did there's no surviving copy of it but he likely apologized for dunking on her mom and once you know it the Queen wrote back except obviously it was gene just straight-up catfishing him after exchanging secret letters with the Queen for nearly a month without so much as a glance from her Rohan was getting antsy he wanted to meet with her and soon and believe it or not gene saw to it on the night of August 12 oh I hope this disguises please wait wait what at this point do they know what what do you want the person who's being catfished does he know what the wrong yeah does gene look strikingly similar to the Queen not particularly I mean Rohan is much more acquainted with gene than with the Queen so where were we August 12 here we go the sprawling gardens of Versailles on a starlit night enter sneakily Rohan it's me the Rohan standing alone in the garden chillin hard sure would be shocked if any queens appeared here tonight crickets hmm I knew it what a pile of nuts suddenly from the bushes a rustling and who should emerge who goes there I'll kill you gasp my queen what she extends a letter you know what this means no I don't I have to go now goodbye what what'd the letter say ghost okay weird what do you think just happened hey gene donned a powdery wig and a Jedi Rove and pretended to be Marie Antoinette B gene hired her husband's mistress to pretend to be Marie Antoinette or C this is fan fiction written by Rohan in his memoirs oh my god Roland did talk a lot of [ __ ] so I wouldn't put it past him to say that he met the Queen but he didn't meet the Queen you know sure but he had no reason to lie about it because he thought he was getting actual letters from the Queen you didn't so it kind of feels like maybe it was the mistress but why would she hire her husband's mistress no I guess you'll have to pick one oh yeah I guess we're out here talking about it all day Brian have you chosen I think I have what are you gonna go with I think this is fanfic okay cake disguise I went with a I okay I think it's C well it turns out jeans husband was getting a little love on the side with a woman who very much resembled Marie Antoinette so without telling her much they dolled her up and had her act the part points to know what do you think Rohan bought it yeah yeah I think he bought the hell out of it I'm sure he does such a degree that he didn't even bat an eye when the Queen wrote him asking to donate 60 thousand pounds to a family in need or a few months later when the Queen also asked him for an additional 100,000 pounds wince identity Jean bought a nice house for her and her husband around this time so Jean just starts sending him a bunch of letters being like it's me the Queen hey I need money she does rule that's pretty great that is so freakin cool he was all business she didn't care about her husband having a little mistress no she was like we could use this yeah I felt a veranda now with Rohan firmly on the hook it was time for Jean to really crank them screws and here's where the world's most expensive this comes into play according to Jonathan Beckman quote the necklace comprised 647 diamonds weighing two thousand eight hundred carats grotesque and almost literally unbearable it resembled an item of chainmail more than a coveted piece of jewelry the necklace had been commissioned as a gift by former King Louis the 15th but as it was such a monstrosity the jewelers known as the Beau mares weren't able to finish the thing before he kicked the bucket in 1774 desperate to sell the necklace that most people short of royalty probably could never afford they had previously offered the sale to Marie Antoinette Beckman describes their exchange and for once this scene will have some allegedly accurate dialogue we didn't not like the dialogue from the others you thought it was good I did thank you you're welcome in the Palace of Versailles a sweating jeweler falls to his knees in front of Marie Antoinette madam I am ruined and disgraced if you do not purchase my necklace I cannot outlive so many misfortunes when I leave here I shall throw myself into the river rise bow man I do not like these Rhapsody's if you were to kill yourself I should Roquette if you were to kill yourself I should regret it as the act of a madman in whom I have taken an interest but I would not hold myself responsible I told you in person and I refused to buy the necklace the King wished to give it to me but I refused him also never mention it again to me divide it and try to sell it piecemeal and do not drown yourself never let me see you behaving this way again knows how to instill boundaries which he also just Sund him hard she was like no [ __ ] fix it you're in this situation fix it she ain't gonna fall for this crap if you kill yourself it's not my fault our play not follow respectable lady Wow it was good somewhat unsurprising based on that exchange that in January of 1785 Rohan received yet another letter from the Queen and she wanted the necklace but for reasons undisclosed she preferred Rohan to take care of the transaction and look we're not here to pick on the guy but Rohan is really turning out to be quite the chump here assuming the Queen was maybe just hiding this transaction from the king Rohan happily agreed to broker the deal with the delighted jewellers a price was agreed upon 1.6 million pounds paid overtime with an initial payment of four hundred thousand pounds within the first six months days later Rohan finalized the sale with the jewelers and chauffeured the necklace from Paris to the Lamont's resident at Forsythe question what happens next hey Rohan is ambushed and robbed on the street by a cohort of jeans B Rohan insists on taking the necklace directly to the Queen or C Rohan hands the necklace to a man he's never met before [Music] all right let's go hey hey just to continue the chump miss the most jumpy thing I could think of is going to make this deal where you're already getting ripped off I'm sure they get robbed by the street just for funsies okay oh well would be you're going with B how was my second choice he insists on taking the necklace directly to the Queen yeah I think he did well let's find out what happened Genie baby you've really nailed it Mama's hit the big time a rapping at the door come on in Oh Rohan hello huh let me take this from top huh a rapping at the door oh come on in Oh Rohan hello what timing I was just meditating on my very cool very real friendship with Marie Antoinette hey where's that necklace oh yes yes yes here it is the dreadful thing what can't wait to sell this thing what was that I can't wait to tell the Queen what a champ you've been who bless your wonderful honest heart are rapping at the door whoa well that'll be the Queen's necklace fetcher be a treat and hide behind that potted plant over there mmm that sounds reasonable so Rohan actually let a complete stranger just walk off with what may be the most expensive pile of rocks known to man he gave me my point huh you never gave me that point nobody gets point remember what I said that when in doubt put see and they didn't so Rohan actually let a complete stranger just walk off with what may be the most expensive pile of rocks known to man and Jean bought herself even more time by telling him that the Queen probably wouldn't wear the necklace till she summoned the courage to tell King Louie oh god oh wow smarten just plain smart she is Joanna scammers yeah obviously Jean and her husband immediately dismantled the necklace and he went to Paris to sell the stones at a loss for 240,000 pounds that's it yeah no I feel like he pocketed some also you got to understand he took it to several jewelers and most of them it's like it would be like trying to sell someone a stealth jet they were like why on earth would anyone be trying to sell his pile of millions of nose of diamonds he's hit the sneak around so despite his overly trusting nature Rohan was getting nervous the Queen had yet to wear the necklace the jewelers were also getting nervous and on the 5th of August beau Mayer went directly to the Queen and a meeting with her laid out the details of the transaction and guess what she was past that was the 5th of August on the 6th of August at 2:00 in the morning Gene Lamont left town days later at the Queen's patronal feast Rohan was tapped on the shoulder by the Kings guards he'd long suspected he was being duped but only now realized the extent of it according to Beckman when put before the king and queen and asked about the necklace he sheepishly uttered it is true sire I have been tricked that's so they rubbed his face in the poop yeah I give over the newborn pie what Rohan was said to be visibly shaking and after the conversation he begged them to spare him the shame scandal of being publicly arrested he was publicly arrested luckily Rohan had just enough time to slip his servant a note instructing him to ride to Paris as fast as he could and burn all his documents his servant took him seriously and rode so fast and so hard his horse died as soon as he arrived in Paris you know the horses are always the unsung hero most of these stories and they are suffering yeah you ever think about a horses on the battlefield this is getting peppered by bullets all the freaking time I think about it all the time but you've got to think those horses when they're all like lined up at battle they're thinking this is sick like I'm here all my bros no they're good I was a horse girl there I said it I was fine that's a lot strong admission yeah the key word there is was I still loved horses yes I don't like have stickers of them in my apartment because I can't put stickers on my wall sure but I do love horses but they're very intuitive if they were really intuitive wouldn't they just be like no I'm not running then I'm going back to the bar they get branded and [ __ ] how about give me some hey maybe a sweet little apple covered in sugar hey buddy how about a NAPA before I run into that hail of bullets I love sugar cubes think about meanwhile in Clervaux 150 miles east of Versailles jeanne was also casually setting things on fire according to her memoirs and she's very chill about this she said quote having received intelligence that the Cardinal was in the Bastille I employed myself near two hours in burning all the letters and notes which I then recollected to have my possession between the Queen in the Cardinal in short I thought it my duty to remove all vestiges of a correspondence between the cardinal and the Queen whoa so you've been she's thinking about her legacy yeah and in the future it wasn't enough that she accomplished the crime exactly the revisionist that's pretty cool actually I really like her she's covering her bases I didn't bother like she did a great job she did a great job I feel like she should take that money hop a boat get out of there start a new life with all that stolen money well that's don't well you know oh yeah so she was arrested the following day and will now join Rohan in the cells of the Bastille as they awaited trial it started out as a grift how did it end up like this it was only a group the formal investigation began a few months later in January and it lasted four months the trial itself became a national obsession and it's as long and as fascinating as the caper that caused it however we simply don't have time to cover it in detail or at least the detail it deserves so you know read some books about it right don't give me a homework assignment but it no I am the professor with no accreditation I went to puppet you time how do you think things turned out for these two banana heads Hey both were sentenced to death be Jean pinned it all on Rohan or see Jean story crumbled like a house of cards all right fine what do you got I'm gonna go at sea it all fell apart I think it all fell apart you did mention she's in jail so okay she was in jail awaiting trial whoops I went with B she pinned it all on Roma in the end Rohan revealed several holes in genes story unmasking her as the mastermind behind the outlandish plot Jean was sentenced to a whipping branding and imprisonment Rohan was sentenced to apologize to the Queen resigned from his various positions and was henceforth banned from Versailles when the royal couple was in residence pretty light so he could only not be in the city when they're there yeah I figure up he's got to be like Oh goodbye so we'll see it was C it was C point two point four run history point for Ryan is that the end of the question is there today no there may be one more question who knows okay so is he here well Rohan would leave the Bastille to cheering crowds as the public came to view him as an unwitting victim in the whole messy plot which kind of was as for the Queen her reputation was permanently sullied by the whole thing with commoners swapping conspiracy theories about her actual involvement in the whole plot did she actually buy the necklace and pin it on the was it all a plot to get back at Rohan this was sort of the first instance of the public losing faith in Marie Antoinette Wow eventually they would have that old French Revolution and behead her that must have been such an ugly necklace no I think it was beautiful but they just couldn't wear it I mean Louis the 15th commissioned it so maybe it was more his style it did say that lighting like we shall it sized diamonds on it which as for jean that scrappy schemer with a drop of nobility in her blood chasing after her dream through nefarious means only to end up in the slammer well let's have one last shot at history points here whatever happened to Jean Lamarr Hey she parted ways with her own head via guillotine he she escaped prison by dressing up as a boy or see she fell down a well in the prison yard what's gonna be I'm gonna go with a seeing as she was a commoner I don't think they're gonna take what she did lightly and uh Kate I would be she escaped as a boy but I think it was C right I would love for it to be C point to Kate she dressed up as a boy and escaped to prison yeah what you believe it I can't believe that that's insane I thought there was no chance that one was right it's kind of a lot of people think that maybe she did have friends in high places who after the whole thing played out felt kind of bad for her and arranged for her to be able to escape but once she escaped they never really bothered to haul her back in so she kind of had a bit of a happy ending wrote a huge memoir that was pretty much everyone in this story wrote their own memoir SiC and told their story of the event so it was crazy that concludes our history lesson I'm going to go tally up the scores to see who receives the coveted Cup and the title of history master while I do that please enjoy the special performance from oh it's the infamous diamond necklace [Applause] all right big pile of diamonds Wendy says when it's just a pile of jewels may pro hand up like a fool but amana should know better than to trust a simple letter so I guess if there's a lesson to this whole backstabbing mess anything if you think you know the Queen to make sure that you know the Queen I catch here talk to you or look at you or smiled at you or even seen you think of you or met you in the daytime today's paper and if she doesn't want to that might do I think it ain't her good stack of diamonds as bars truly wow that guy was really good yeah what a songwriter yeah compliment yourself well let's see we did tallying up the scores Ryan and Kate you both made it out with two history points it's a tie isn't a set in death no there's no sudden death you share it you could have it right in we could just hold it like this is it full of jelly yeah actually pretty good sure it is I love jelly beans I know yeah thanks for watching puppet history everybody we'll see you next time or I got a root beer one oh okay thank you for for being here oh I had so much fun goodbye goodbye I learned so much [Music] [Music]

Channel: Watcher

Views: 2,343,924

Rating: 4.9862676 out of 5

Keywords: Shane madej, Ryan bergara, Kate peterman, watcher, marie antoinette, French revolution, educational, panel show, trivia, puppet history, buzzfeed unsolved, ruining history, con artist, swindle, caper, mystery, drama, history, puppets, funny, hangout

Id: 3u2FauOIPh8

Length: 28min 28sec (1708 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 27 2020