Kelly Clarkson’s Quest For Jane Austen's Ring Subject Of TV Show

Jamie Colby (left), host of the FOX Business Network series "Strange Inheritance"

Literary giant, meets pop star, meets British law, meets Jewelry News Network, meets television series.

It’s a strangely connected world we live in. Sometimes it reads like a novel. 

“American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson is a fan of Jane Austen, the 19th Century English novelist whose own star shines to this day. Clarkson, who collects Austin items, successfully bid for a turquoise and gold ring owned by the writer at a Sotheby’s London auction in 2012. She paid 152,450 pounds ($235,654 at the time of sale), approximately five times the high estimate.

The Jane Austen turquoise and gold ring that became the subject of an ownership war

However, before she could take the ring to her home in Texas the British government stepped in, declaring the ring a national treasure and imposing a temporary export ban. This allowed time for the Jane Austen’s House Museum to match the bid. Clarkson, who originally outbid the museum for the ring, was forced to sell it to them. I wrote about the story in 2013 when the museum was in the process of raising the funds (which included an anonymous donation of 100,000 pounds). The ring is now on permanent public display. 

The story that never seems to die is being revived by the show, “Strange Inheritance,” on the FOX Business Network, hosted by Jamie Colby. It will air February 27 at 9 p.m. EST.

In the episode Colby goes to Oxfordshire, England, to visit Nicky Gottelier, the fifth generation descendant of Austen who inherited the ring. Nicky and her husband David were happy to cash in on their inheritance. Little did they know that the modest ring would be subject of an international dispute.

Colby then traveled to the museum to view the ring and learn its history. 

It certainly appears the couple and museum came out ahead. While Clarkson, according to reports, was gracious in relinquishing its ownership. 

All's well that ends well. Until the next chapter....

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Jane Austen’s Ring Attracts the Attention of Kelly Clarkson, An English Museum and the British Government

A gold and turquoise ring once owned by Jane Austen and purchased by Kelly Clarkson. Photo credit: Sotheby's

In July, 2012, American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson successfully bided for a gold and turquoise ring once owned by the famed novelist Jane Austen at Sotheby’s London auction. She paid dearly for the ring, spending 152,450 pounds ($235,654), approximately five times the high estimate of approximately $45,000. The sale seemed legal and binding but then the British government swooped in, suddenly declaring it a national treasure and refusing to release the ring until the Jane Austen's House museum can raise enough money to match Clarkson’s winning bid, according to the Associated Press.

The museum at Austen's former home in Chawton, southern England, said Monday it has raised 103,200 pounds ($160,000), nearly all of it from one anonymous benefactor. It has until December to raise the remaining funds, according to the AP. Clarkson has agreed to sell the ring if the museum raises the funds. The museum did try to purchase the ring at the Sotheby’s auction but lost to the singer.

The ring’s origins are somewhat mysterious, according to reports. Some Austen fans suspect it was a gift from Tom Lefroy, an Irishman who may have been romantically involved with Austen. Austen corresponded with Lefroy during the time that she wrote her most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice. Some speculate — as dramatized in the 2007 film Becoming Jane – that Lefroy was the inspiration for Austen’s most memorable character, Mr. Darcy. However, at least one literature expert, Gabriel Heaton, believes that it may have been a gift from Austen’s brother Henry, who acted as her literary agent. The ring is found in a box from a jeweler in the City of London, where Henry worked as a banker.

Austen left the ring to her sister Cassandra and it remained in the family until the auction.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) was one of the most widely read writers in English literature, as the author of several romantic novels revolving around Regency-era families of the lower English gentry. 

The British government’s heavy handling of this situation is reminiscent of this scene from the movie Pirate Radio. 

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