France admits “failure” after Louvre jewelry heist
Shafaq News – Paris
The theft of royal jewelry from Paris’s landmark Louvre Museum revealed serious security flaws and damaged the country’s global image, France’s Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged on Monday.
“What is certain is that we have failed,” Darmanin told France Inter radio, pointing out that thieves were able to park a mechanical lift in central Paris, scale it within minutes, and steal priceless artifacts undeterred.
Newly appointed Interior Minister Laurent Nunez also weighed in, calling museum security across France a “major weak point.”
The Louvre, which was set to reopen at 9:00 a.m. Monday, remained closed as police widened their search for suspects who stole eight 19th-century royal jewels from the Apollo Gallery early Sunday.
A source close to the investigation, cited by Agence France-Presse, said the thieves arrived just after opening, used an extendable ladder to access a window, cut through the glass, and smashed display cases with power tools in a heist lasting only seven minutes.
Authorities suspect a professional, possibly international, crew, with 60 investigators assigned to the case and a visitor-filmed video—now circulating in French media—capturing part of the break-in.
Among the stolen pieces were an emerald-and-diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon to his wife Empress Marie Louise, a diamond-encrusted diadem owned by Empress Eugénie, and a necklace once belonging to Queen Marie-Amelie, the last queen of France, containing 631 diamonds and eight sapphires.
One piece—the crown of Empress Eugénie—was reportedly dropped and damaged during the thieves' escape, as museum staff intervened and forced the group to abandon tools and equipment, according to the Ministry of Culture.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed investigators are pursuing two main leads: either the heist was commissioned by a private collector or tied to an international money-laundering operation.
This marks the Louvre’s first major theft since 1998, when a Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot painting vanished and was never recovered.
