EXCLUSIVE Wallis Simpson 'was behind' £17m jewel robbery: The explosive clues that link Duchess of Windsor to the theft of her own jewellery are revealed in book By Richard Wallace Published: 21:23 EDT, 13 July 2024 | Updated: 07:57 EDT, 14 July 2024 e-mail 91 shares 174 View comments Geneva, no stranger to the super-rich, had never seen anything like it. Touted as the greatest auction of the 20th century, many of the world's wealthiest and most glamorous people had gathered in a vast circus tent in the grounds of the Beau Rivage Hotel for a chance to bid on the Duchess of Windsor's fabulous jewellery collection. The best restaurants and hotels were full.

Caviar, truffles and foie gras were in short supply. The great champagne houses were releasing restricted vintages at ridiculous prices to make a killing. Crammed into the tent, on the shores of Lake Geneva, were 1,500 guests.

Another 700 watched on closed-circuit TV in the ballroom. Plain-clothes detectives, in rented dinner jackets and ballgowns, tried to blend in. Sotheby's, the venerable English auction house, was offering 306 lots to the highest bidders, including the Duchess's favourite flamingo brooch – the bird's plumes set with emeralds, rubies and sapphires – and her huge, Mughal emerald engagement ring.

This was a chance not just to possess a brilliant-cut diamond bracelet or emerald-studded earrings, but to buy a slice of history – a piece of the greatest, most scandalous and enduring love affair of modern.