Emma Chamberlain under fire for wearing “stolen” jewelry from Indian Royalty at Met Gala

YouTube star Emma Chamberlain is catching flak for wearing some jaw-dropping gems believed to have been stolen from Indian Royalty at the 2022 Met Gala.

Emma Chamberlain is one part internet superstar and one part budding fashion icon.

As such, it came as little surprise that the YouTuber — who boasts over 11 million subscribers — made an appearance at the 2022 Met Gala to orchestrate interviews for Vogue.

Her ‘Gilded Glamour’ look included a cropped top with puffed sleeves and a slinky white skirt… but it was her eye-catching choker that stole the show.

The necklace features a huge yellow 23.6 carat De Beers diamond in the center, alongside an additional 2,930 other diamonds, totaling a whopping 1,000 carat weight.

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However, it’s not the expense that makes this choker special; this necklace has quite a history, as well. The piece was notably in possession of Indian royalty Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, who ruled from 1900 to 1938.

It’s also worth noting that Singh was one of the richest men in the world (and an avid Cricket player) — but his choker suddenly went missing from the Patiala royal treasury sometime around 1948, nearly ten years after his death.

Wikimedia Commons: Historian of Punjab

Bhupinder Singh of Patiala was one of the richest men in the world. Nearly a hundred years after his death, one of his signature jewelry pieces was spotted on the Met Gala red carpet.

It is believed that the choker was stolen by the British, as the necklace resurfaced at a London jewelry store in 1998, where it was subsequently scooped up by Cartier (a company for which Chamberlain is an ambassador).

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When Chamberlain showed up at the Met Gala sporting the historic piece, the internet instantly went ablaze with comments and criticism surrounding her eye-popping accessory.

“Okay so nobody is gonna talk about Emma Chamberlain wearing literally a necklace worn by a south Asian king at the Met Gala?” one user wrote on Twitter. “When it comes to South Asians, it’s always ignored and rejected. SPEAK ABOUT THIS.”

https://twitter.com/Nikiforminaj/status/1526065938990243842

“This is way worse than Kim wearing Marilyn Monroe’s dress,” another wrote. “It has a deep and painful history attached to it. Very on theme, nothing screams ‘gilded glamour’ quite like expropriation.”

However, others are coming in defense of Chamberlain and are instead pointing the finger at Cartier.

“Cartier are the ones to be canceled,” one user wrote. “Making their ambassador wear a stolen necklace of a glorious history, not a clueless YouTuber… I am sure she wouldn’t have worn it if she was informed of its history.”

Do you honestly think Emma Chamberlain knew what the f**k she was wearing?” another said. “A whole team of stylists would have been involved with choosing what she wore, and even they were probably unaware. Be mad at @Cartier for owning it, you morons!”

Thus far, Chamberlain has not commented on the outrage surrounding the choker.