Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The crown jewels are a collection of historic and obscenely valuable relics closely associated with the British monarchy. For centuries these golden, jewel-encrusted trinkets have been kept under the watchful eye of burly guards in the Tower of London. And to doubly deter thieves, historically the punishment for attempting to steal them was death... something Thomas Blood thumbed his nose at when he waltzed right into the Tower of London and tried to steal them in 1671.
A charismatic and likeable man who reportedly had oodles of Irish charm and a razor sharp wit, Blood was able to get close to the most cherished symbols of the British monarch by the oldest conman trick in the book- simply befriending an individual who had full access to them, the 77 year old Keeper of the Jewels, Talbot Edwards.
Blood visited the Tower of London disguised as a humble clergyman and buttered Edwards up with compliments before instructing an attractive female companion who was an actress posing as his wife to feign a crippling stomach ache.
Edwards being the gentlemanly sort, and having his apartment just above the place where the crown jewels were kept, immediately called for his wife to tend to Blood’s companion, which allowed the self-styled dashing rogue to begin working his magic on the rest of the Edwards' clan, showering them with small gifts in a faux display of gratitude for tending to his wife.
Upon successfully integrating himself into the Edwards family's good graces, Blood casually mentioned that he had a wealthy nephew who was looking to marry, knowing full well that Edwards had been looking for a sufficiently well-off suitor for his daughter. Edwards understandably jumped at the chance to meet this mysterious nephew and arranged for a meeting- a meeting that Blood just so happened to come to with not only his nephew (who was actually his son), but also three other companions, Robert Perrot, Richard Halliwell, and William Smith.
Author: Karl Smallwood
Host: Simon Whistler
Editor: Daven Hiskey
Producer: Samuel Avila
The crown jewels are a collection of historic and obscenely valuable relics closely associated with the British monarchy. For centuries these golden, jewel-encrusted trinkets have been kept under the watchful eye of burly guards in the Tower of London. And to doubly deter thieves, historically the punishment for attempting to steal them was death... something Thomas Blood thumbed his nose at when he waltzed right into the Tower of London and tried to steal them in 1671.
A charismatic and likeable man who reportedly had oodles of Irish charm and a razor sharp wit, Blood was able to get close to the most cherished symbols of the British monarch by the oldest conman trick in the book- simply befriending an individual who had full access to them, the 77 year old Keeper of the Jewels, Talbot Edwards.
Blood visited the Tower of London disguised as a humble clergyman and buttered Edwards up with compliments before instructing an attractive female companion who was an actress posing as his wife to feign a crippling stomach ache.
Edwards being the gentlemanly sort, and having his apartment just above the place where the crown jewels were kept, immediately called for his wife to tend to Blood’s companion, which allowed the self-styled dashing rogue to begin working his magic on the rest of the Edwards' clan, showering them with small gifts in a faux display of gratitude for tending to his wife.
Upon successfully integrating himself into the Edwards family's good graces, Blood casually mentioned that he had a wealthy nephew who was looking to marry, knowing full well that Edwards had been looking for a sufficiently well-off suitor for his daughter. Edwards understandably jumped at the chance to meet this mysterious nephew and arranged for a meeting- a meeting that Blood just so happened to come to with not only his nephew (who was actually his son), but also three other companions, Robert Perrot, Richard Halliwell, and William Smith.
Author: Karl Smallwood
Host: Simon Whistler
Editor: Daven Hiskey
Producer: Samuel Avila
