Estate of Italy's last queen to be sold

ROME, June 6 (UPI) -- Jewelry, paintings and household items of Italy's last queen will be auctioned by her daughter, Princess Maria Gabriella, to satisfy an inheritance tax bill.

Among the items to be auctioned at Christie's in London next week will be Queen Marie Jose's diamond tiara designed by Faberge and worn by Empress Josephine, estimated to be worth between $810,000 and $1.2 million, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Wednesday.

Also available is diamond-and-turquoise matching set of a necklace, bracelets, earrings and brooches, valued at $60,000, which was given to Marie Jose by her parents, the king and queen of Belgium, when she married Umberto of Savoy, the heir to the Italian throne, in 1930.

Princess Maria Gabriella said Wednesday accepting the inheritance, which the queen's three other children declined because of tax considerations, meant accepting a $1.3 million tax bill. Queen Marie Jose died in 2001 in Switzerland.

"I decided to shoulder the honors and the burden," she said.

The princess said she plans to keep only a few things and sell the rest of the inherited items from the palace of Racconigi near Turin.

Money left after taxes will be used to maintain the family home in Geneva, she said.