National Post
· collected 2026-09-05 · by Father Raymond J. de Souza
The article reports that Empress Zita, former wife of Austrian Emperor Karl I, has donated her private jewelry collection, including the Florentine Diamond, to the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in Quebec City. The collection was hidden for over 80 years, with Empress Zita living in exile in Canada from 1940 until 1953. The article notes that Empress Zita settled in Quebec City due to its strong Catholic culture, her children's education in French, and the presence of relatives in the area. The display at the museum is a rare opportunity for Canadians to see these historic jewels up close.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Vast as the lands of the Habsburg empire were, they never included Canada.
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they → include → Canada
Relics of that period, private jewellery of Empress Zita, including one of the world’s most prominent gems, the Florentine Diamond, went on display at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in Quebec City on Friday.
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jewellery → include → Friday
Canada’s royal history — first French, then British — is most evident in the city established by Samuel de Champlain in 1608.
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history → establish → 1608
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The Great War laid waste to royal houses.
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War → lay → houses
The last emperor of Austria-Hungary, Karl I, was driven into exile in 1918, taking refuge in Madeira with his wife, Empress Zita, and his young and growing family.
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emperor → drive → wife
Renowned for efforts to bring peace during World War I, and exceptional in his personal character and devout Catholic faith, Karl was beatified — the ultimate step before canonization — in 2004.
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Karl → bring → 2004
The pope of the beatification, St. John Paul the Great, was named after him.
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pope → name → him
His baptismal name of Karol (Charles, Karl) was given in honour of Emperor Karl; baby Karol’s father had served in the Habsburg armed forces.
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father → give → forces
(Southern Poland was part of the Habsburg empire 1795-1918.)
Blessed Karl died young, age 34, in 1922, leaving seven children and Empress Zita expecting an eighth.
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Zita → die → eighth
With the new Austrian republic unremittingly hostile to the remaining Habsburgs, Zita had to make a life for her family.
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Zita → remain → family
She went first to Spain and then to Belgium.
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She → go → Belgium
Watching the unfolding events of the 1930s, Zita and her eldest son, Crown Prince Otto, were fiercely anti-Nazi, greatly lamenting the Anschluss, Austria’s capitulation to Nazi Germany.
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Zita → watch → Germany
When Hitler invaded France in 1940, it was evident that Belgium was soon to follow.
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Belgium → invade → 1940
Zita fled, zigging and zagging across Europe until she could book passage to New York, travelling on passports issued by neutral Portugal.
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she → flee → Portugal
Upon crossing the Atlantic to safety she decided to settle in the Sillery district of Quebec City, in a modest home called the Villa St-Joseph, owned by an order of Catholic nuns.
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she → cross → nuns
Zita chose Quebec City for three reasons.
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Zita → choose → reasons
Of supreme importance to her and Karl was their Catholic faith, and she wanted a strong Catholic culture where she could easily attend daily Mass.
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she → want → Mass.
Second, her children had already begun their education in French and, while her household was conversant in a half-dozen languages, she preferred them to continue in French.
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them → begin → French
Empress Zita lived happily in Quebec until 1953, when she returned to Europe to be closer to her grown children.
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she → live → children
Canadians are more familiar with the refuge sought in Canada by Princess Juliana of the Netherlands during World War II; Hitler also invaded the Netherlands in 1940.
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Hitler → seek → 1940
Princess Juliana gave birth to a daughter while in Ottawa, with the federal government making extraterritorial provisions so that the baby princess would be born on “Dutch soil,” preserving her place in the line of succession.
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princess → give → succession
When driven out of Vienna in 1918, Karl sent some of his family’s most significant jewels out of the country.
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Karl → drive → country
Like the Windsors today, there are jewels that belong to the monarchy as such, the “crown jewels,” and then there are others that are the private property of the family.
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that → be → family
Austria expropriated Habsburg royal property in 1919, but the jewels now in Quebec, including the 137-karat Florentine Diamond, were ruled in 1923 to be the family’s private property.
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jewels → expropriate → 1923
Empress Zita considered herself the custodian of whatever was left of the Habsburg dynasty.
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whatever → consider → dynasty
She carried the precious jewels into exile in a simple briefcase.
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She → carry → briefcase
Bringing them to Quebec, she put them into a bank safety deposit box.
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she → bring → box
For security and with a vision embracing centuries, she told no one and decreed that they would remain hidden for a hundred years after Karl’s death in 1922.
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they → embrace → 1922
Only in her last years — she died in 1989, 67 years after Karl — did she confide the secret to two of her sons, who in turn passed it on to two of their sons.
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who → die → sons
Of her dozens of grandchildren, only two knew of the jewels.
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two → know → jewels
The family has decided that the jewels will remain in Quebec as a sign of gratitude for the welcome their grandmother received.
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grandmother → decide → welcome
Their presence will also make Canadians aware of a proud part of our history.
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Canadians → make → history
Empress Zita’s grandsons have created a trust that owns the jewels and will attend to their preservation and display, first in Quebec City, and eventually in other museums.
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that → create → museums
The jewels, aside from their own beauty and value, are symbols of dedication to duty amidst the disruption, destruction and displacement of war; of preservation of patrimony in a time of privation; and of trust in God’s providence across the ocean which, not for the first time, brought blessings upon the heights rising up from the St. Lawrence River.
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which → bring → River
