Louvre reopens after jewellery heist as investigation intensifies
As the Louvre reopens, questions mount over museum security after thieves stole priceless royal jewels once belonging to Napoleon’s wife and Empress Eugénie.
The Louvre Museum reopened to visitors on Wednesday, three days after a daring daylight robbery stripped its royal jewellery collection of eight priceless pieces worth an estimated €88 million ($102 million).
Visitors began entering the world’s most-visited museum at its usual opening time of 9 am (0700 GMT), though the Apollo Gallery, where the theft took place, remains closed as investigators comb the scene for evidence.
The heist unfolded shortly after the museum opened on Sunday, when thieves believed to be part of an organised crime group allegedly used a ladder mounted on a truck to gain access.
In their escape, they reportedly dropped a diamond-studded crown but made off with treasures including an emerald-and-diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon I to Empress Marie-Louise and a diadem once owned by Empress Eugénie, adorned with nearly 2,000 diamonds.
Investigation intensifies
Paris prosecutors described the losses as “unparalleled,” both in monetary terms and for the blow to France’s cultural heritage.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the investigation is “progressing,” with more than 100 investigators now assigned to the case. “I have full confidence that we will find the perpetrators,” he told local media.
The theft has reignited a debate over security in France’s museums, coming just weeks after two other institutions reported break-ins.
Critics have accused the Louvre of inadequate safeguards for its royal collection, though the museum said on Tuesday that the display cases installed in 2019 were a “considerable improvement in terms of security.”
Louvre director Laurence des Cars, who became the first woman to head the museum in 2021, has not publicly commented since the robbery. She is scheduled to appear before the Senate’s culture committee on Wednesday afternoon to address questions about museum security.
Despite the ongoing investigation, tourists expressed relief at the reopening. “We were really hoping it would be open. We had booked for today, and we wouldn’t have had another chance to come,” said Fanny, a visitor from southern France who toured the museum with her daughter.
The Louvre welcomed nine million visitors last year, reaffirming its status as the world’s most popular museum — a title now shadowed by one of the most audacious art heists in its history.