I am not sure who was prepared to pay £5 million for it, but clearly it was not worth that much and its value has been ridiculously inflated because of its provenance in much the same way that Princess Margaret's Poltimore or Elizabeth Taylor's tiara were.

There is already enough in the Royal Collection associated with Queen Victoria to make such a purchase unnecessary in my view. While I agree that it was a great thing it was preserved for the British nation, it is much better suited to being held in a museum.

If the Queen or Prince of Wales were to have a spare £5 million to spend on enhancing the royal jewel collection, I could identify far better purchases for them! I wouldn't even charge them a finders fee!