The Count of Paris, Jean d’Orleans, has issued a heartfelt plea to the thieves who brazenly stole a sapphire tiara from the Louvre Museum, urging them to return the priceless heirloom for the sake of France’s heritage and his family’s legacy.
A direct descendant of French kings, the 60-year-old spoke to Reuters from the royal domain of Dreux, southwest of Paris, expressing the profound personal impact of the theft.
“Give us back our jewels, there’s still time,” he implored.
Leafing through family photographs, Mr d’Orleans revealed images of his great-grandmother, the Duchess of Guise, adorned with the Ceylon sapphire and diamond tiara in 1931.
“It’s both personal and intimate,” he explained. “These jewels were worn on special occasions, family events, sometimes also to create a specific portrait.”
Another photograph showed his grandmother, Isabelle d’Orleans-Bragance, wearing the tiara for the last time at Princess Astrid of Belgium’s 1984 wedding, before it was sold to the museum by his grandfather in 1985 for 5 million francs.
The audacious daylight heist, which saw intruders make off with national treasures valued at over $100m in mere minutes, has stunned France, leaving the nation reeling from its audacity and the glaring security failures.
It was the biggest robbery at the Louvre since the Mona Lisa was stolen in 1911. Police have made multiple arrests.
The eight stolen items were from the 19th century and once belonged to French royalty or the country’s imperial rulers.
They included the tiara, a necklace and a single earring from the sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense.
A tiara and brooch belonging to Empress Eugenie as well as an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings gifted to Empress Marie Louise by Napoleon for their marriage were also among the thieves’ loot.
The sapphire set, acquired in 1821 by King Louis-Philippe from Queen Hortense, remained in the Orleans family for more than a century before going on public display.
The count urged the thieves to return the jewels intact.
“For our family, for the French people, it’s important that these jewels return to their display case at the Louvre,” he said in a grand living room lined with portraits of French monarchs including Henri IV, Louis XIII, Louis XIV and Marie-Antoinette.
A renovated, more secure room should be used, he added.
The count, who implored the authorities to hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent in the 19 October theft, likened the public reaction to the heist to the outpouring of emotion after the Notre-Dame Cathedral blaze in 2019.
“It’s priceless heritage,” he said.
“We need to recover that.”
