The Heart of the Ocean necklace from the 1997 film was based on a real-life necklace owned by Titanic survivor Kate Phillips.
Paramount PicturesThe Heart of the Ocean necklace was inspired by a real jewel.
Star-crossed lovers on a doomed ship. A blue-jeweled necklace. And a tragic death that sparked a divisive debate for decades. If this sounds like the plot of the 1997 blockbuster Titanic to you, you’re right. But it’s also the true story behind the film’s iconic “Heart of the Ocean” necklace.
The “Heart of the Ocean” necklace is an important part of the film. It’s given to Rose by her cruel fiancé, and Rose later wears it while posing for her love interest, Jack. At the end of the film, an elderly Rose drops the jewel into the ocean. But though the film is fictional, the necklace is based on a real object.
Back in 1912, aboard the real RMS Titanic, an English shopkeeper named Henry Morley gifted his lover Kate Phillips with a beautiful sapphire necklace. Morley perished on the ship — but Kate and her necklace survived.
This is the tragic true story behind the “Heart of the Ocean.”
The Real-Life Love Story That Inspired The ‘Heart Of The Ocean’
Before the sinking of the Titanic, Kate Florence Phillips was an 18-year-old living in Worcestershire, England. She worked at a local confectionary shop, which was owned by Henry Morley of L. Morley Confectioners.
Kate and Morley began a romantic relationship but, like Rose and Jack, faced serious hurdles. Namely, the fact that Morley was already married.
So Morley came up with a plan to escape his marriage and be with Kate. He sold two of his shops and, as Encyclopedia Titanica reports, bought a joint second-class ticket on the Titanic for £26.
Public DomainThe only known photograph of Henry Morley, Kate Phillip’s lover.
Morley’s family thought he was simply visiting America for his health. But Morley had no plans to return to England.
Instead, posing as “Mr. and Mrs. Marshall,” and traveling under ticket number 250655, Kate and Morley boarded the RMS Titanic at Southampton. They planned to elope and start a new life together in Los Angeles.
Aboard the ship, Morley gave Kate a necklace – a blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds — as a token of his love. According to RMS Titanic Inc, Kate wore the necklace, later known as the “Love of the Sea,” as the couple enjoyed their final meals together aboard the doomed ship.
Titanic The ExhibitionThe necklace given to Kate Phillips by Henry Morley aboard the Titanic.
Then, on April 14, 1912, disaster struck when the Titanic hit an iceberg. Kate escaped in a lifeboat. But Morley perished in the sinking.
Kate Phillips After The Sinking Of The Titanic
After the Titanic sank, Kate Phillips held on to the necklace that Henry Morley had given her onboard the doomed ship. She returned home to England and, nine months later, gave birth to a daughter she named Ellen.
But Kate struggled after surviving the Titanic and losing her lover. Her parents were Ellen’s primary caregivers at first and, even once Kate assumed caring for her daughter, she and Ellen had a reportedly difficult relationship. Despite this, Kate later gave Ellen the necklace that Morley had given to her.
She knew that Ellen was Morley’s child, even though neither Kate nor Ellen could prove it during their lifetimes. It wasn’t until 15 years after Ellen’s death in 2005 that a DNA test proved that Henry Morley was her father.
Titanic The ExhibitionNine months after surviving the Titanic, Kate Phillips gave birth to a baby girl named Ellen.
So what became of Kate Phillips’ necklace, the real “Heart of the Ocean”?
According to the BBC, Ellen ultimately sold the necklace to a collector. It was later acquired by the Nomadic Trust, which displayed the jewel in 2007.
“The pendant that we have just acquired and is going to go on display on Nomadic, isn’t actually the fictitious Heart of the Ocean from James Cameron’s film,” David Scott-Beddard of the Nomadic Trust explained. “This pendant is from the Titanic and was the inspiration for James Cameron to write the love story that he included in his film with Kate Winslet.”
Scott-Beddard added: “We are pretty sure that, because of the fictitious story and the fascination with Kate Winslet’s Heart of the Ocean necklace, a lot of people will want to come and see the real necklace.”
The Real-Life ‘Heart of the Ocean’ Necklace
There are some differences between Kate Phillips’ “Love of the Sea” necklace and Kate Winslet’s “Heart of the Ocean” necklace. Kate Phillips’ necklace was set with a sapphire; Kate Winslet’s necklace contains a 56-carat blue diamond. In the movie, it’s huge; In real life, Scott-Bedard described the pendant as “quite small, only about an inch long.”
According to People magazine, however, the film’s “Heart of the Ocean” necklace wasn’t a real jewel. A real blue diamond of that size would have been too expensive, so production designer Peter Lamont worked with London jewelers Asprey & Garrard to create props made of cubic zirconia.
Paramount PicturesWhen gifting Rose the Heart of the Ocean necklace, Cal claims it was once owned by King Louis XVI – similar to the story of the Hope diamond.
However, Asprey & Garrard ultimately created a real-life version of the Heart of the Ocean, made from 171-carat blue sapphire and 103 diamonds. It was sold for $2.2 million at a charity auction, though the anonymous buyer agreed to let Celine Dion wear the jewel to the 1998 Academy Awards. There, Dion sang the movie’s famous song: “My Heart Will Go On.”
Today, the Heart of the Diamond necklace is one of the most famous parts of the Titanic movie. But though it’s a fictional part of the movie’s plot, it is based on a real-life necklace — and a real-life love story.
After learning about the real love story that inspired the Heart of the Ocean necklace in the Titanic, discover the poignant stories of 12 Titanic survivors. Or, look through this heartbreaking collection of Titanic artifacts.
