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The British Museum has successfully raised a total of £3.5 million to acquire a gold pendant associated with King Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. This exquisite piece, known as the Tudor Heart, carries significant historical importance, linking it directly to the marriage between the monarch and Katherine. After a campaign that gathered support from both the public and various organizations, the museum announced that its fundraising target had been met.
The campaign drew in £360,000 from individual donations, alongside substantial contributions from grants, trusts, and arts institutions. Nicholas Cullinan, the director of the British Museum, emphasized the campaign’s success as evidence of how historical artifacts can captivate imagination and why treasures like the Tudor Heart deserve a place within museum collections. The pendant itself is decorated with symbolic imagery, including the Tudor rose alongside Katherine’s pomegranate emblem, and a banner inscribed with “tousiors,” the old French word for “always.”
Further research led by the British Museum suggests the pendant may have been created to commemorate the betrothal, in 1518, of Henry VIII and Katherine’s daughter, Princess Mary, to the French heir apparent. Remarkably, the engagement took place when the princess was only two years old and her fiancé was an infant of just eight months. Following its discovery, the pendant was reported under the Treasure Act 1996, legislation that facilitates the acquisition of significant historical finds by museums across England.
To secure the pendant for public display, the museum was required to pay a reward to the metal detectorist who found it as well as to the owner of the land where it was unearthed. The British Museum was determined to keep the item, as artifacts connected to Henry VIII’s first marriage are rare. More than 45,000 public supporters contributed to the fundraising effort, helping to cover over 10% of the cost. Additional major funding came from The National Heritage Memorial Fund, which contributed £1.75 million, with further donations from the charity Art Fund, the Julia Rausing Trust, and The American Friends of the British Museum. The museum plans to officially add the Tudor Heart to its collection later this year and arrange for it to tour around the United Kingdom
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