Kelly Clarkson

Jane Austen’s Ring Torn From Kelly Clarkson’s Hand By Greedy, Nefarious Jane Austen Fans

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(And yes, we know we are a bit remiss on reporting this, but wanted to close the loop.)

Or so one would think from some of the press surrounding the Jane Austen House Museum’s successful campaign to raise enough money to purchase Jane Austen’s turquoise ring for the same price that Kelly Clarkson paid for it, after the UK government raised some question about whether she would be allowed to take it back to the U.S. Check out some of the headlines:

Kelly Clarkson Loses Jane Austen Ring To Museum

She didn’t “lose it,” she was paid for it, and wisely accepted the same amount that she paid for the ring, avoiding an international incident.

Kelly Clarkson denied Jane Austen ring after museum campaign

Jane Austen ring to stay in Britain after museum beats Kelly Clarkson’s £150,000 bid

Hmm. Our understanding is that Kelly was paid what she paid for the ring–she was not “outbid.”

Kelly Clarkson won’t be getting her hands on Jane Austen’s ring after all

Kelly Clarkson ring purchase thwarted by Jane Austen fans

Well, excuuuuuuuuuse us.

The Mary Sue, a site we have been enjoying lately, got it just right.

MUSEUM SUCCESSFULLY BUYS BACK JANE AUSTEN’S RING FROM KELLY CLARKSON, CAN DESTROY SAURON NOW

Ha!

BATTLE FOR JANE AUSTEN’S RING SETTLED & NOW KELLY CLARKSON KNOWS HOW JUSTIN GUARINI FELT

Okay, that’s funny.

Not completely incidentally, Ted Scheinman filed a funny, gossipy report from the JASNA AGM in the Paris Review that pretty much revealed the identity of the Anonymous Benefactor.

The Englishwoman manning the Chawton House table on floor three was far more coy. “Oh, you can unravel it,” she assured me. “Consider who can spend that kind of money, and then consider which of those people is, shall we say, involved at Chawton.”

Just as many of us thought. (Noted Janeite J.K. Rowling was the other main suspect.)

ETA: Tony Grant has written a wonderfully detailed overview of the whole episode with additional information about the ring itself at Jane Austen’s World.

An Appeal to Kelly Clarkson: Do the Right Thing

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We didn’t mention this back when it happened because we were on our latest Unscheduled Blog Hiatus (cough), but a while back, singer and former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson purchased a turquoise ring that once belonged to Jane Austen. However, because of the importance of the ring to British culture, the British government moved to block Miss Clarkson from taking the ring (which she apparently intended to wear as her engagement ring) out of the country.

austen_ringWe support this decision, for several reasons. The first is–look at it! She’s going to wear this as her engagement ring? Like, every day? It appears to our admittedly untrained eye to be in rather delicate condition for such a purpose. Secondly, it is just us, or is it a bit rude to swoop in with all your American Idol money (some of it the Editrix’s, as she purchased at least one of Miss Clarkson’s albums and actually rather likes her as a performer) and just buy up the cool toys and then hide them away? Or wear it on stage, all na-na-na, look at me and my Jane Austen ring, you poverty-stricken spinsters! (We doubt she meant it that way, but it feels that way.)

Look, Kelly, if you’re really that big of a Jane Austen fan–and we truly do not doubt that you are–do the right thing. Imitate Alberta Burke, possibly the greatest collector of Austeniana ever, who purchased the lock of Austen’s hair and then, while at a Jane Austen Society annual meeting, responded to complaints about Austen relics being taken out of the country by standing up and donating the lock to the Jane Austen Memorial Trust. It was done in pride and anger, but still–she did it. Mrs. Burke’s Austen letters went to the Morgan Library, and many of her other collectibles to Goucher College. She enjoyed them in her lifetime, and then donated them so that others might enjoy them (and many of us enjoyed those letters a couple of years ago at an exhibit at the Morgan Library). You have a lovely replica of the ring that your fiancé had made–and what a Mr. Knightleyish thing to do–that you can wear daily, secure in the knowledge that you’re not ruining an heirloom, and showing your love for Jane Austen every day.

Kelly, do the right thing: donate the ring to the Jane Austen Memorial Trust. Do it now, or later, but do it. It’s the right thing to do. It’s the Janeite thing to do.