The Hope Diamond's curse story was sold with the stone in 1911; its owner's will put it in trust for her grandchildren, and her trustees sold it to pay her debts

The Hope Diamond curse is an unproven tale. Newspapers printed curse stories about the stone between 1908 and 1911; later research cast serious doubt on them, and they are described as embellished to help sales. The legal history is documented. In 1884 Lord Francis Hope inherited the Hope estate with only a life interest in the diamond, so he could not sell it without a court's permission. After his bankruptcy, a court authorised the sale in 1901 to pay debts, and it passed through dealers to Pierre Cartier. Evalyn Walsh McLean bought it from Cartier for $180,000 in a sale closed on 28 January 1911. The press then attached the curse to her life. Her eldest son died in a car accident in 1919, aged nine. Her husband, Ned McLean, died in a psychiatric hospital in 1941. Her daughter died of a sleeping-pill overdose in 1946, aged 24. Evalyn died in 1947. Her will put her property in trust for her grandchildren until the eldest reached 25. In 1949 the trustees got permission to sell her jewels to settle her debts, and Harry Winston bought the collection. On 10 November 1958 Winston gave the diamond to the Smithsonian, sending it by registered mail insured for $1 million at a cost of $145.29. The Smithsonian still holds it^†.