How to steal the Crown Jewels (1671 edition)

The most famous attempt to steal the Crown Jewels ended with the thief meeting the king, and walking away with land worth five hundred pounds a year.

In 1671 the jewels weren't behind armoured glass. They were kept in the Martin Tower, a round tower in the north-east corner of the Tower of London's inner wall. Their keeper, Talbot Edwards, was seventy-seven and lived upstairs with his family. For a small fee, he would show them to visitors.

The long con

One spring day, a man dressed as a parson came to see the jewels with a woman he called his wife. She was taken ill, and Mrs Edwards looked after her. The parson came back a few days later with a present of gloves to say thank you.

He was Thomas Blood, an Irish adventurer and former army officer who already had a price on his head. Over the next few weeks he became a friend of the family. He even suggested a marriage between his nephew and the Edwardses' daughter.

The morning of 9 May

Blood arrived early with his "nephew" and two friends, and asked to see the jewels. Once they were inside, they knocked the old man down and tied him up.

Then they packed. Blood flattened the crown with a mallet so it would fit under his cloak. One friend pushed the orb down his breeches. The other started filing the sceptre in half, because it was too long to hide.

At that moment Talbot Edwards's son walked in, home that very day from soldiering in Flanders. The alarm went up, and Blood was caught before he got clear of the Tower. As he was taken, he is reported to have said: "It was a gallant attempt, however unsuccessful! It was for a crown!"

The twist

Blood refused to speak to anyone but the king. So King Charles II questioned him in person. Nobody knows exactly what was said. Blood came out with a full pardon and land in Ireland worth five hundred pounds a year.

Edwards survived the attack. He was promised a reward that was never fully paid.

Where to stand

The jewels have moved since 1671. Today they're in the Waterloo Block, the long, battlemented barracks on the north side of the inner ward. Stop outside its entrance before you join the queue, and look across to the round tower at the far north-eastern corner of the inner wall: that's the Martin Tower, where it happened.

Inside, a moving walkway carries you past the coronation crowns. The sceptre Blood's friend tried to saw in two is there too. Since 1910 it has held one of the largest cut diamonds in the world.

Hear it where it happened

The Trevlo tour of the Tower of London ends with this story at the Jewel House, after the princes in the Bloody Tower and Anne Boleyn on Tower Green. Six stops, about fifteen minutes of listening, at your own pace.

The first stop is free to play on this page, and your first tour in the app is free.