Gold pendant with Admiral Nelson and his lover’s hair discovered

LONDON - A gold locket containing the hair of Admiral Lord Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton-made when they began their affair-has been discovered and is set to be auctioned.

The locket commemorates the Battle of the Nile and is dated on the first day of that epic encounter on August 1, 1798.

Within a month, Nelson and Hamilton fell in love and began an affair that was scandalised society because both were married.

The pendant-made in the year following the battle in which the British navy routed the French-is just 2.7 inches high.

It contains two locks of hair, one on each side, and has ‘N’ on the front, which stands for ‘Nelson’.

There are pearls included-some of which are in the shape of an anchor- an arrow signifying love and a laurel wreath signifying victory.

Nelson’s sandy-coloured hair is arranged around the inscription and Emma’s darker lock is arranged on the reverse.

The pendant has come from Australia to an auction house in Wiltshire where it is likely to fetch more than 5,000 pounds.

Experts who have studied it are convinced it is genuine and is a token from one of the world’s most famous love affairs.

“This is potentially a very important piece. We are sure as we can be that it is right and we’ve had experts look at it and they agree,” the Daily Mail quoted Jonathan Edwards from Woolley and Wallis auction house in Salisbury as saying.

“Oddly, it came from Australia and the family who owned it had relatives in Portsmouth and it was through them that we got it. It really is a beautiful thing that is more likely to have been worn by a woman,” added Edwards. (ANI)