Frenchman wants crown jewels from Britain

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ANGERS, France, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A Frenchman is petitioning for the British crown jewels to be given back to the folks he says are the "rightful heirs" -- the people of Angers, France.

Artist Calixte de Nigremont has collected the signatures of 2,500 people in Angers and intends to air the town's case at a Sept. 7-9 trial he is arranging to be held during the Accroche-Coeurs street festival, TheLocal.fr reported Monday.

"The petition is serious. It's a bit of a nod towards the British to remind them of the history and relationship between France and the United Kingdom," Nigremont told The Local.

The petition claims the crown jewels rightfully belong to France, as they were taken after Britain's King Henry VII of the House of Tudor had Edouard Plantagenet, the earl of Warwick who was a potential heir to the throne, decapitated in 1499. The House of Plantagenet, a branch of the Angevin family, ruled much of France, as well as England, parts of Ireland, Scotland and Wales from the mid-12th century to the late 15th.

"In compensation for the plundering of the rights of the Angevin dynasty and the political assassination of its last direct descendent, this petition demands that the United Kingdom give back to the Angevins, rightful heirs to the Plantagenets, the crown jewels," reads the petition statement.

"If we do eventually get back the crown jewels I plan to do with them what you do in the U.K., and display them for the public to see. I like to think if it as giving something back to the French public," Nigremont said.

Nigremont has alerted British lawyers to start preparing for the case.

"I'm in the middle of talks with British lawyers, who are extremely interested in the case and say it is absolutely worth defending," he said. "I have also spoken to British historians who say the petition absolutely has a legitimate grounding."