Louvre vows to restore the imperial crown dropped by thieves during museum robbery

The Louvre to Restore Empress Eugénie’s Crown as Symbol of “Renaissance” After Heist

The diamond and emerald-studded crown of Empress Eugénie, found damaged outside the Louvre following the October 19 robbery, will be restored as a symbol of “renaissance,” Louvre director Laurence des Cars announced on Friday.

The imperial crown, adorned with more than 1,300 diamonds, was the only item recovered after thieves broke into the museum’s Apollo Gallery and made off with eight precious artifacts. Among the stolen pieces were a sapphire diadem, necklace, and earring from a set belonging to 19th-century Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.

“All of the most important pieces, the diamonds and emeralds, are actually still there,” des Cars told France Info news. “A few small pieces of diamonds are missing, but that’s about it. One of the eight gold eagles on the crown is missing.”

Des Cars explained that the crown was likely damaged when thieves removed it from its display case through a “small cut” made by a disc cutter, rather than from being dropped outside the museum. The restoration will be financed by patrons who have already offered support, and a scientific committee will be established to oversee the process.

The brazen heist involved perpetrators forcing their way through a window with the help of a freight lift, then using disc cutters to break into display cases. The theft has raised serious questions about security measures at one of the world’s most visited museums, which houses priceless treasures including the Mona Lisa.

In the aftermath of the robbery, des Cars revealed she offered her resignation to the culture minister, who declined to accept it. “I saw a tragic, brutal, violent reality for the Louvre, and as the person in charge, after all the hard work done by the teams that day — it felt right to offer my resignation,” she said.

The robbery comes at a critical time for the historic institution. France’s court of auditors released a report just one day earlier urging the Louvre to accelerate its security modernization plans. The audit, which examined the 2018-2024 period and was conducted before the theft, criticized the museum for prioritizing “visible and attractive operations” like artwork acquisitions and visitor experience improvements over essential security upgrades.

Des Cars pushed back against this assessment, arguing that the Louvre is responsible for balancing all these missions simultaneously. She noted that immediately after becoming director in 2021, she advocated for modernizing the museum to address several pressing issues.

“The obsolescence of our technical facilities, the dilapidation of the building, structural issues related to welcoming visitors and overcrowding in the pyramid, which was designed for four million visitors but now welcomes nine million, and the problem with the display of the Mona Lisa, which is very unsatisfactory,” she explained, listing the challenges facing the institution.

Earlier this year, the museum launched its decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” plan, which includes comprehensive security improvements. The ambitious initiative, estimated to cost up to 800 million euros ($933 million), aims to modernize the museum’s infrastructure, alleviate crowding issues, and create a dedicated gallery for the Mona Lisa by 2031.

The theft has highlighted the delicate balance museums must maintain between accessibility and security, particularly for institutions like the Louvre that house irreplaceable cultural treasures while welcoming millions of visitors annually. As investigations into the robbery continue, the restoration of Empress Eugénie’s crown will stand as a symbol of the museum’s resilience and commitment to preserving cultural heritage despite this significant security breach.