Overview
- Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the curator’s estimate for the eight stolen Napoleonic‑era jewels is about €88 million, excluding their historical value.
- Roughly 100 investigators from specialized units are reviewing CCTV and motorway footage and processing fingerprints and DNA while working on an organized‑crime hypothesis.
- Four masked thieves used a truck‑mounted ladder and power tools to cut into the Galerie d’Apollon, smashed display cases, and fled on motorbikes in six to seven minutes; Empress Eugénie’s crown was dropped and recovered damaged.
- The stolen pieces include items linked to Empress Marie‑Louise, Empress Eugénie, and queens Marie‑Amélie and Hortense; the state is its own insurer, so the loss is treated as cultural patrimony rather than a reimbursable claim.
- Security is under scrutiny as the culture minister says systems functioned and an administrative inquiry begins, while a recent auditors’ report cited delayed upgrades and sparse camera coverage; the museum closed for two days and was scheduled to reopen Wednesday.