Diamonds Were These Girls' Best Friend

Hope Diamond

Diamonds Were These Girls' Best Friend

By Jimmy Hatcher

I think we’re talking about the 1930s here. That’s when Bettina Belmont, later Mrs. Newell J. Ward, Jr., a long-time Middleburg resident, was in her teens.

Bettina Belmont Ward

Photo © The Pink Sheet, Inc/Vicky Moon

Evalyn Walsh McLean

Her father, Raymond Belmont (think Belmont Park Racetrack in New York), won the Maryland Hunt Cup in 1922. Her stepfather, Arthur White, had won it two years earlier in 1920.

Well, Bettina was quite a belle, and when she was invited to dances in Washington, D.C., she often would stay overnight with Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean. Mrs. McLean’s father had made his fortune in mining and the family later owned The Washington Post, a grand house in what is now known as the McLean Gardens section of Northwest Washington, and, of course, the 49-carat Hope Diamond.

At the McLean’s house, the usual morning procedure after a dance in Washington was for Bettina to wake up early, have breakfast In the kitchen and then drive back to Middleburg for a morning ride with her stepfather at her parents house, Chilton.

One morning after a night at Mrs. McLean‘s, Bettina found her way to the kitchen only to be told by the cook that on this day, she would be having breakfast with Mrs. McLean in her bedroom.

And so, back upstairs she went to Mrs. McLean‘s room. As she walked in, she was greeted by Mrs. McLean, who was sitting up in her bed wearing the Hope Diamond on a chain around her neck.

She beckoned Bettina to hop in bed and sit next to her. Then Mrs. McLean leaned over, reached into her bedside night stand and pulled out the 94-carat Star of the East diamond, another priceless jewel. Much to Bettina’s shock, and delight, she fastened the precious gem around the teenager’s Bettina’s neck.

And then they both had their breakfast.