Louvre Reveals Damage to Eugénie's Crown After Heist

More than three months after a brazen daylight heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the institution has released photographs revealing the extent of damage to the crown of Empress Eugénie, the only piece left behind by thieves who escaped with eight priceless jewels valued at approximately 76 million euros.

The robbery occurred on October 19, 2025, just 30 minutes after the museum opened to visitors. Four hooded men, some posing as workers, used a truck-mounted device to access the second-floor Apollo Gallery. They smashed through a reinforced window with power tools and cut open display cases using an angle grinder during a four- to seven-minute raid. The intruders grabbed items including a sapphire diadem, necklace, and single earring linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from a set belonging to Empress Marie-Louise; and a reliquary brooch and corsage bow brooch once worn by Empress Eugénie. They fled on scooters, but in their haste, the crown slipped from their grasp and fell to the pavement outside, leaving it battered and deformed.

Louvre officials detailed the crown's condition in a recent report, noting that its...