The British Museum launches Fundraising Campaign to save a unique Tudor Pendant
The British Museum has announced a major campaign to preserve a unique gold pendant from the 16th century, known as the “Tudor Heart,” which is linked to Queen Catherine of Aragon and her daughter Mary. To acquire this remarkable artifact and keep it for the nation, the museum needs to raise £3.5 million.
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The pendant was discovered in 2019 with the help of a metal detector by amateur treasure hunter Charlie Clark in a field in Warwickshire. Under British treasure law, museums have priority rights to acquire such valuable finds. If the fundraising target is not met, the relic will be returned to the finder and could be sold at auction to a private collector.
The pendant is striking in its uniqueness. One side features intertwined imagery of the Tudor rose and a pomegranate tree — symbols associated with Henry VIII and his wife. The other side bears the letters “H” and “K” bound together with white thread, and below them is inscribed the French word “tousiors,” meaning “always.” Researchers believe the relic was created specifically for a tournament held to celebrate the marriage of the king’s daughter to the French heir in 1518.
Photo: Tudor Heart / The Trustees of the British Museum
The museum curator notes that no comparable artifacts from Henry VIII’s early reign have survived. Until now, knowledge about jewellery from that period has been based solely on descriptions in inventories and depictions in paintings by Old Masters. Now there is a rare opportunity to study an authentic example.
What makes this find particularly valuable is that it offers a fresh perspective on the history of Catherine of Aragon and her daughter Mary — figures who have been unjustly overshadowed by British museum tradition due to religious prejudices of the past centuries.
The campaign, which runs until April 2026, has already received its first major donation of £500,000 from the Julia Rausing Trust. This same organization is one of the primary sponsors behind the National Gallery London’s major £375 million expansion project.
The pendant is currently on display in the British Museum’s gallery and will remain accessible to visitors throughout the fundraising period.
Cover photo: Tudor Heart / The Trustees of the British Museum
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