Nine “priceless” jewels that once belonged to Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie have been stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris in a daylight robbery that lasted just seven minutes.
The most visited museum in the world, the Louvre in Paris was forced to close on the morning of Sunday 19th October following a daring heist. France’s Culture Minister, Rachida Dati, confirmed the incident on X, saying that she was at the site where police were investigating the incident. “No violence, very professional,” she told local media.
It has been reported that three or four intruders entered the museum via a basket lift mounted on a lorry, on the side of the enormous building which faces the River Seine and is currently undergoing construction. There, they broke a window and smashed display cases containing precious jewellery. The articles have been described by French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez as of “genuine heritage value and are, in fact, priceless.” The criminals then fled the scene on motorbikes. The incident, Nunez added, was the work of “an experienced team who had clearly scouted the location.”
The treasured horde was stolen from the Louvre’s opulently gilded Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) which is home to a collection of the French Crown Jewels, alongside precious paintings, vessels, tapestries and medallions. It is also home to three remarkable and historic diamonds: the 140-carat Regent, the 55.23-carat pale yellow Sancy and the 21.32-carat pink Hortensia diamond.
A total of nine pieces of jewellery have been confirmed as taken from the Napoleon and French Sovereignty display cases, which housed pieces once owned by the infamous Emperor Napoleon, his nephew Napoleon III, and their wives, the empresses Marie-Louise and Eugenie. These include a tiara from the set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense; an earring from a pair belonging to the sapphire set of of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense; the emerald necklace and pair of earrings from the Empress Marie-Louise set (created by the Parisian jewellers Nitot et Fils, which eventually became the house of Chaumet); the diamond ‘Reliquary Brooch’, the tiara of Empress Eugenie and Empress Eugenie’s large corsage bow brooch.
A 19th century diamond and emerald crown, reportedly once owned by Empress Eugenie, has since been recovered near the Louvre, but in a damaged condition. The other eight jewels remain missing. The incident has led to an outcry from historians and jewellery experts on social media, who claim the authorities have long been aware of the lack of round-the-clock security in the Apollo Gallery.
“We are working to find the culprits very, very quickly,” Laurent Nunez has said.
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