{"product_id":"9781577361923-queen-of-diamonds","title":"Queen of Diamonds","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Fabled Legacy of Evalyn Walsh McLean\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe last and longest private owner of the Hope Diamond, Evalyn Walsh McLean led anything but an ordinary life. Evalyn grew up a poor girl in a rough Colorado mining town where her father discovered one of the largest gold mines in the United States. The newly wealthy family relocated to Washington, D.C., where she met and married Ned McLean, who inherited the renowned \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eCincinnati Enquirer. \u003c\/i\u003eWith the combined influence of the Walsh and McLean families, Evalyn developed friendships with the politically prominent in the nation’s capital and became the city’s favorite hostess. Notorious for giving magnificent parties, she counted the Tafts, the Hardings, the Coolidges, Alice Roosevelt, J. Edgar Hoover, and Ethel Barrymore among her many personal friends.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe McLeans purchased the Hope Diamond when Evalyn was only twenty-four.Wagging tongues and the diamond’s supposed curse did not, however, prevent her from wearing it. She lost the diamond a few times, too, once by putting it around her Great Dane’s neck. When she left the Hope Diamond to her grandchildren in 1947, it was worth two million dollars.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvalyn loved her diamonds, but she loved children, pets, and life more. The deep indigo stone is but a single facet of her story. Her autobiography,\u003ci\u003e Father Struck It Rich, \u003c\/i\u003ebecame a best-seller in the mid-thirties. Now illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs, \u003ci\u003eQueen of Diamonds\u003c\/i\u003e is that autobiography with a foreword by her great-grandson and an epilogue describing the last decade of her life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40955299233889,"sku":"9781577361923","price":29.46,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_28514705.jpg?v=1742982484","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781577361923-queen-of-diamonds","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}