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Hello and welcome to Empire with me Anita Arnan

and me William Darpool.

Now, we left you on a cliff edge.

I know that.

But just for those of you who weren't there for our first episode,

we are in the midst of a story of what seems to be a little diamond but actually is a story of empires, a story of many empires and how the symbol of power becomes this one diamond called the coenore diamond. So this is a story if you've missed go back and

listen because we are taking you on a journey from prehistory from mythology from Hindu, and we're going to take you all the way through the

Mughal Empire, through the Persians, through Afghanistan, through the Sikh Empire, and we are

going to plop you at the end on a cushion in the tower of London.

So that's our aim, that's what we're planning to do. So let's just go back to why this particular rock may be imbued with such supernatural powers.

Because if you have heard of the Koyenor, you might have heard that it is a cursed diamond.

You might have heard that there is a saying about it that only a woman can wear it impunity

and if a man wears it a mere human man it will reduce him and his empire to dust.

It is the reason that we don't have kings wearing it in this country. It has been

worn by Queen Victoria, but then only by Queen Consorts, never by the reigning male monarch.

I don't know, we sort of try to work out whether it's because spouses are dispensable

whatever happens to them it's fine next but the story perhaps

...