Gems once worn by French royalty are among treasures that have been stolen from the Louvre Museum.
Nine pieces were taken from the Paris landmark on the morning of October 19 2025 as it opened up.
The French minister for culture, Rachida Dati, described the pieces taken as ”quite priceless’. No one was hurt during the robbery.
The raid took place at 9.30am local time, just as the Louvre was preparing to open. The robbers are said to have used a cherry picker to gain access to the Apollo Gallery which houses a collection of gems belonging to French royalty.
Its collection includes crowns and tiaras, some of them linked to Napoleon.
Le Parisien reported that a piece believed to be a crown belonging to the Empress Eugenie was found near the Louvre soon after the robbers escaped.
The museum shut its doors immediately the theft was discovered and police began a search. A security cordon was placed around the building.
First reports suggest that the thieves used a cherry picker to gain access to the gallery which is on an upper floor of the Louvre. They were fully hooded for the raid which saw them smash windows before ransacking the gallery. They escaped on scooters
Questions were immediately asked about how the thieves were able to carry out their raid which lasted just seven minutes.
Ariel Weil, mayor of central Paris where the Louvre is located, said it was a shock and added that the swift evacuation of the building caused ”a major public order problem”.
The Prosecutor’s Office in Paris has opened an investigation.
The gems in the Apollo Gallery are divided into three categories: jewels worn before the Revolution of 1789 and the downfall of the French monarch, collections from the First Empire and pieces from the Second Empire.
