Billionaire family fight for £21m Idol's Eye gem

A £21MILLION diamond known as the Idol's Eye is being fought over in London by Qatari royals.

- Paul Keogh

Multi-billionaires the Al-Thanis are at war over the 70.21 carat bluetinged jewel, once reportedly the eye of a temple idol in Benghazi, Libya.

It was kept in the London home of late Qatari culture minister Sheikh Saoud bin Mohammed Ali Al-Thani and is currently held by a firm owned by a foundation, where his widow Amna and children are beneficiaries.

But super-rich cousin London-based art collector Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Thani is in a High Court tug-of-war over ownership of the gem.

Mistake

Sheikh Abdullah, whose £320million Mayfair mansion Dudley House is said to be the UK's dearest private home, claims that via investment firm Qipco he has the right to buy the Eye for £7.8million after the family put it on sale during the pandemic in 2020.

Elanus, the firm that owns the gem, claims the sale offer was a "mistake".

Lawyers say it was just an expression of interest to sell by one person the late sheikh's son Sheikh Hamad bin Saoud Al-Thani, who had not consulted his mother or sisters, and directors had not considered a sale.