The Qatar royal family’s rival members fight over the largest cut blue diamond of the world in London’s High Court

Rival members of the Qatari royal family are engaged in litigation in London’s High Court over the largest cut blue diamond in the world, with one side pressuring the other to sell an extravagant 70-carat ‘Idol’s Eye’ gemstone for $10 million.

The diamond, which originally belonged to the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, is at the centre of a legal dispute brought by Qipco, a company that Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah al-Thani, a Qatari art collector, controls.

The defendant in this action is Elanus Holdings Limited, a Guernsey-based company that is owned by the late Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed al-heirs Thani’s and was in charge of the acquisition of Qatar’s enormous national art collection.

Qipco, which is a private company that sponsors the UK’s Royal Ascot horse races, filed a case forcing Elanus to sell the diamond called ‘Idol’s Eye’ for a price of $10 million at least as per the terms of a 2014 contract signed between the entities.