Jane Austen museum raising money to keep ring won by Kelly Clarkson in U.K.

A Jane Austen museum is working hard to raise the money to keep a ring once owned by the Pride & Prejudice writer in the U.K. The ring was won by American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson at auction, but U.K. officials managed to keep it in Austen’s native country a while longer so a U.K. buyer could come forward.

As we reported on Aug. 1, Clarkson won the gold and turqoise ring for £152,450 ($228,000) last year, but culture minister Ed Vaizey got the government to extend an export ban to Sept. 30 to give a U.K. buyer a chance to match Clarkson’s price. Vaizey noted that Austen led a simple life and had few belongings, so it is important to keep what little she had in the U.K.

Now, the Jane Austen museum, based in her Chawton, Hampshire home, is coming forward and trying to raise the funds. “We are very confident we can match this price,” fundraiser Louise West told the Independent.

According to The Guardian, an anonymous donor has come forward to give the museum £100,000. The museum is allowing Austen fans to donate through its website and is up to £103,800 already.

West told the Independent that the museum doesn’t hold a grudge against the “Stronger” singer, but said that she should have expected the export ban. Clarkson does have an open invitation to the museum as an Austen fan, but she hasn’t responded.

“We can only speak to Clarkson's 'people', so we don't know if she even knows she's been invited to visit,” West told the Guardian. “We were very excited that someone like Kelly Clarkson was a fan of Jane Austen – it's not what you'd expect from a young, cool US pop singer. It says a lot about Austen's popularity and who she's popular with. It's not just middle-aged women.”

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