LEAKED SECURITY REPORT: 12-MINUTE LOUVRE RAID LEFT EMPRESS EUGÉNIE’S CROWN “BROKEN, BLEEDING, AND CURSED”
A confidential memo reveals guards heard “metal screaming” before alarms cut out — and when the vault reopened, the 173-year-old crown lay cracked, its emerald centerpiece missing.
Officials fear the thieves knew exactly where to strike… and why.
What to Know About Empress Eugenie’s Crown
The crown was reportedly found damaged in the Louvre robbery.
In a shocking daytime heist at France’s Louvre Museum, thieves stole nine pieces of jewelry from the Apollo Gallery, which is home to the French Crown Jewels. One of those pieces stolen was reportedly Empress Eugenie’s crown, which was later found damaged outside the museum.
According to AFP, “French authorities on Sunday found a damaged 19th-century crown near the Louvre in Paris after the museum was robbed earlier in the day, a source following the case told AFP.” Time added, “Police reported finding one jewel outside the Museum, which they later identified as the Crown of Empress Eugenie, but noted that it had been damaged.” The extend of the damage is not yet clear, but the Associated Press said the crown was “recovered broken.” The crown, made of gold, features more than 1,300 diamonds.
Crown of Empress Eugenie.
Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III and the last empress of France, had a remarkable personal jewelry collection. “Eugénie was aware of the scrutiny of her fashion choices as empress and she astutely chose to both look forward, supporting the fledgling careers of Charles Worth and Louis Vuitton, and to honor the past, drawing inspiration from Marie Antoinette,” rare jewelry dealer Lee Siegelson told T&C’s Editor-in-Chief Stellene Volandes in 2019. “Her exquisite taste was copied around the world, and an array of important diamonds was essential to her carefully crafted royal persona.”
Napoleon had this crown created for his wife for the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1855. Per the museum, “Alexandre-Gabriel Lemonnier (circa 1808-1884) was commissioned to create the Emperor’s crown and that of the Empress with some of these diamonds. The Empress’s crown, now in the Louvre Museum, reveals the splendor of the Second Empire as well as the virtuosity of the jewelers of this period.”
The Louvre adds, “The overall construction was entrusted to the jeweler J.-P. Maheu, and Lemonnier mounted the precious stones.” In addition, the eagles were created by brothers August and Joseph Fannière. The museum notes, “These two artists were employed by the greatest goldsmiths in Paris.”
The crown of the Empress Eugénie de Montijo displayed at Apollon’s Gallery on January 14, 2020 at the Louvre museum in Paris.
The Louvre closed for the day as an investigation into the theft begins, “a security measure and to preserve traces and clues for the investigation.” We’ll update this as we learn more about the status of Empress Eugenie’s crown.
