The most valuable gems from Britain’s crown jewels were prized from their settings and buried in a biscuit tin at Windsor Castle during the Second World War to ensure that they would not fall into Nazi hands in the event of an invasion, it was revealed Friday. The operation to hide the jewels was ordered by the present queen’s father, George VI, and was such a closely guarded secret that the queen only found out precisely what happened during the filming of a BBC documentary on the subject. The most precious jewels—the Black Prince’s Ruby and St. Edward’s Sapphire—were removed from the crown and hidden underground until the end of the war in an empty tin of Bath Oliver biscuits—an expensive cracker for cheese, synonymous with the upper echelons of British society.
