World

African Crown Jewels Stolen in Norway

Raise your hand if you had no idea that crown jewels were still actually a thing

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On Thursday, the King of the Ashanti kingdom in Ghana had his dominion's historic crown jewels stolen — a theft that could lead to his dethronement. But the daring robbery did not happen in the royal city of Kumasi in Central Ghana nor on the streets of the capital Accra, but in the sleepy Norwegian capital Oslo.

King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II was in Oslo representing his country at a Norwegian-African Business Summit. The suitcase containing the crown jewels was stolen at the venue of the conference, the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, the BBC reported. "For anyone who knows our tradition, it will be clear that these crown jewels have tremendous value," the king's secretary Kofi Owusu Boateng told the BBC. The king, 62, has been the nominal ruler of the Ashanti kingdom since 1999