New discovery: The King's most valuable piece of jewelry was pledged to finance wars in the 19th century

The Brazilian diadem consists of brilliant, silver and gold and has been owned by the Swedish royal house since the 1870s. Prior to that, it belonged to Queen Josefina's sister Amélie, who was only 17 years old to become empress in Brazil when she married Dom Pedro I. in 1829.

Just two years later, Dom Pedro I abdicated and went to Europe to war against his own brother, who took the throne in Portugal from Dom Pedro I's eldest daughter. A new discovery from the archives of the Imperial Museum in Petropolis, Brazil, shows how part of the financing of the war went.

- Dom Pedro took all of Amélie's jewelry. Silver and everything he could. He submitted everything to a bank in London as collateral for the loan, says author Claudia Thomé Witte in SVT's documentary Royal Jewelery.

Dom Pedro I won the war and released all the jewelry. When Empress Amélie died in 1873, the Brazilian diadem passed on to her sister Queen Josefina and has since belonged to the Swedish royal house.

If you want to see more about the royal house's jewelery, history and how it is used, see Royal jewelery in SVT1 on Thursday 2 April at 8 pm or already on SVT Play.