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| France’s Ministry of Culture confirmed that eight priceless jewels were taken in the Louvre heist | |||
| 2025-10-20 | |||
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
…Napoleon’s wife Marie-Louise, – a reliquary brooch, – a second tiara, – and Empress Eugénie’s famed diamond corsage bow. Eugénie’s crown was also seized but dropped and damaged as the thieves fled. The diamond corsage bow—studded with 2,634 diamonds and purchased by the Louvre in 2008 for €6.72 million—was among the museum’s most valuable pieces. Authorities say the total worth of the stolen jewels remains under assessment.
The group of criminals swiped priceless items, including a necklace and a brooch once belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine, in broad daylight, forcing the tourist attraction to shut its doors. The raid, which took place at around 9.30am on Sunday, saw the thieves brazenly break into the art museum, which is also home to the Mona Lisa, by propping a huge freight elevator up against its walls, according to an investigating source. The group of several 'highly organised criminals' arrived on scooters, masking their faces to hide their identity, before pulling out chainsaws and making off with precious pieces worth millions, it added. Among the treasures was the Eugénie Crown, adorned with thousands of diamonds and emeralds and worn by the Empress of the French in the 19th Century, which was found tossed below a window of the Louvre and broken in pieces. The historic piece was sold at auction in 1988 for $13.5million (£10m) before being donated to the Louvre in 1992. It is now worth tens of millions of dollars, expert Josie Goodbody told the Daily Mail. It took the gang just seven minutes to complete their heist, from the moment they arrived to their speedy getaway, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. They drove the elevator on the back of a flat-bed truck right up to a window close to the museum's Apollo Gallery (Galerie d'Apollon), which was opened by King Louis XIV in the 17th Century, he added. 'The window was cut through, using a hand-held disc cutter,' Mr Nunez said. Officers rushed to the scene and were pictured inspecting the elevator, resembling a giant ladder, which had been left up against the historical stone walls of the Louvre after the gang rushed off with the loot. Further photos showed what appeared to be a disc-cutter on the front seat of a lorry, outside the museum, surrounded by police tape. Meanwhile, thousands of panicking tourists were trapped inside the iconic building while a hurried evacuation took place, before being escorted towards the city's streets on a busy day in the French capital. Police sources told Le Parisien: 'After breaking windows, two men entered, stealing nine pieces from Napoleon and the Empress's jewelry collection – a necklace, a brooch, and more.' The room thought to be the target also included a diamond bodice bow belonging to Empress Eugenie, although it is not yet known if this was taken. It also boasted the Regent diamond, viewed by many as the most beautiful in the world, which was strangely not stolen, according to Le Parisien. After being crowned Emperor and Empress of France in 1804, Napoleon and Josephine amassed one of the most impressive jewellery collections ever known. Many of the pieces were stolen from royalty during the French Revolution, while others were taken from around the country's sweeping Empire, which expanded rapidly under the emperor's rule. Police sources added that 'the criminals gained access to the building on the Seine River side', where construction work is in progress. 'They used a freight elevator that leads directly to the targeted room,' they said. Mr Nunez confirmed an investigation had been launched into 'theft and criminal conspiracy to commit a crime,' by an organised gang.
French television showed a video of the heist:
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| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2025-10-20 12:25 |