Royal family jewels up for auction

The gold and silver ornaments owned by a royal family are set to be auctioned on June 17th.

The Bhosale family of Nagpur in India have put their jewels and ornaments up for auction in order to pay for 25 years of backdated income and property tax, according to the India Economic Times.

Including necklaces and bracelets, the jewellery was in British custody for 23 years from 1925, according to an anonymous source cited in the newspaper.

The collection is currently valued at 2.5 million rupees (£30,157) and potential buyers will have to pay 10,000 rupees the day before the auction in order to take an early preview.

In April this year, London auction house Bonham sold a dagger that belonged to India's Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan. Bloomberg reported that the dagger sold for £1.7 million.

The emperor is famous for commissioning the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction was completed around 1648, and is now one the seven manmade wonders of the world.