{"id":95313,"date":"2025-10-22T23:51:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T23:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/95313\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T23:51:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T23:51:18","slug":"louvre-director-offered-to-resign-after-jewel-heist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/95313\/","title":{"rendered":"Louvre director offered to resign after jewel heist"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Louvre’s director acknowledged a “terrible failure” at the Paris tourist attraction after a daylight crown jewel heist over the weekend<\/a>, and said that she offered to resign, but it was refused.<\/p>\n

The world’s most-visited museum reopened earlier in the day to long lines beneath its landmark glass pyramid for the first time since one of the highest-profile museum thefts of the century stunned the world with its audacity and scale.<\/p>\n

In testimony to the French Senate, Louvre director Laurence des Cars said that the museum had a shortage of security cameras outside the monument and other \u2033weaknesses\u2033 exposed by Monday\u2019s theft.<\/p>\n

Under heavy pressure over a heist that stained France\u2019s global image, she testified to a Senate committee that she submitted her resignation, but that the culture minister refused to accept it.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we are experiencing a terrible failure at the Louvre, which I take my share of responsibility in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The thieves slipped in and out, making off with eight pieces from France\u2019s Crown Jewels<\/a> \u2014 a cultural wound that some compared to the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019.<\/p>\n

Late detection<\/p>\n

\"Laurence<\/p>\n

Laurence des Cars, director of Le Louvre museum, poses before a hearing at the Culture commission of the Senate, three days after historic jewels were stolen in a daring daylight heist (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

The theft \u2014 steps away from the Mona Lisa and valued at 88 million euros<\/a> (NZ$178 million) \u2014 has put embattled President Emmanuel Macron, Culture Minister Rachida Dati, des Cars and others under new scrutiny. It comes just months after employees went on strike, warning of chronic understaffing and not enough resources for protection, with too few eyes on too many rooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not detect the arrival of the thieves soon enough,\u201d des Cars said.<\/p>\n

She said that the museum\u2019s alarms had worked properly, but that it currently doesn’t have full video surveillance of the perimeter outside the museum, though there is a plan to provide full coverage of all the Louvre’s facades.<\/p>\n

She also suggested barriers to prevent vehicles from parking directly alongside the museum\u2019s buildings, and said that she would push for a police station inside the museum, which welcomes 30,000 visitors a day and 2,300 workers.<\/p>\n

Disbelief among visitors<\/p>\n

\"Visitors<\/p>\n

Visitors queue to enter the Louvre museum three days after historic jewels were stolen in a daring daylight heist (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Three days on, the jewels remain missing and the thieves are still at large \u2014 and reactions are divided.<\/p>\n

“For a place like the Louvre, it\u2019s unfathomable,\u201d said Amanda Lee, 36, an art teacher from Chicago. \u201cI heard it took under four minutes. How is that possible here, with no police in sight?\u201d<\/p>\n

Others were unperturbed.<\/p>\n

Claire Martin, a 41-year-old French lawyer from Versailles visiting with her two children during a school holiday, said that \u201cwe saw the masterpieces\u201d even though the Apollo Gallery was shut.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe told the kids it\u2019s a history lesson. We came for the art,” she said. “The police can deal with the thieves.\u201d<\/p>\n

France acknowledges failings<\/p>\n

Authorities say the thieves spent less than four minutes inside the Louvre on Monday morning: a freight lift was wheeled to the Seine-facing facade, a window was forced open, and two vitrines were smashed.<\/p>\n

Then came the getaway on motorbikes through central Paris. Alarms had gone off, drawing agents to the gallery and forcing the intruders to bolt.<\/p>\n

As it reopened, the Louvre declined questions from The Associated Press to detail any reinforced protocols. It said that no uniformed police were posted in the corridors. With school holidays swelling demand, the day was fully booked and access limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t notice extra security \u2014 guards as always, and no police inside. It felt like a normal day,\u201d said Tom\u00e1s \u00c1lvarez, 29, a software engineer from Madrid.<\/p>\n

The loot<\/p>\n

The Marie-Louise necklace and earrings were among the stolen items. (Source: Louvre Museum)<\/p>\n

The thieves made away with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century Queens Marie-Am\u00e9lie and Hortense.<\/p>\n

They also made off with an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte\u2019s second wife, as well as a reliquary brooch. Empress Eug\u00e9nie\u2019s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch \u2014 an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship \u2014 were also part of the loot.<\/p>\n

One piece \u2014 Eug\u00e9nie’s emerald-set imperial crown, with more than 1300 diamonds \u2014 was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.<\/p>\n

Fears the jewels will be destroyed<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A basket lift used by thieves is seen at the Louvre museum Sunday Oct.19, 2025 in Paris. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau valued the haul at about 88 million euros (NZ$178 million), a \u201cspectacular\u201d figure that still fails to capture the works\u2019 historical weight. She warned that the thieves would be unlikely to realise anything close to that sum if they pry out stones or melt the metals \u2014 a fate curators fear would pulverise centuries of meaning into anonymous gems for the black market.<\/p>\n

Beccuau said that expert analyses are underway; four people have been identified as being present at the scene, and roughly 100 investigators are mapping the crew and any accomplices, in addition to forensics experts.<\/p>\n

Security overhaul<\/p>\n

All this comes after Macron announced new measures in January for the Louvre \u2014 complete with a new command post and expanded camera grid that the Culture Ministry says is being rolled out.<\/p>\n

It also raises hard questions, including whether Sunday\u2019s breach is tied to staffing levels, and how uniformly the upgrades in the overhaul are being applied.<\/p>\n

Protection for headline works is airtight \u2014 the Mona Lisa is behind bulletproof glass in a climate-controlled case \u2014 yet the break-in exposed seams elsewhere in a 33,000-object labyrinth. For many French, the contrast is a public embarrassment at the landmark.<\/p>\n

It touches a raw nerve: the issue of swelling crowds and overstretched staff.<\/p>\n

In June, a staff walkout over overcrowding and chronic understaffing delayed opening. Unions argue that mass tourism leaves security lacking and creates pressure points where construction zones, freight access and visitor flows intersect.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Louvre\u2019s other star attractions \u2014 from the Venus de Milo to the Winged Victory of Samothrace \u2014 were open again. But the cordoned-off vitrines in the Apollo Gallery, guarded and empty, told a different story: one of a breach measured not just in minutes and euros, but in the fragility of a nation\u2019s patrimony.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including serious weather warnings for rain and life threatening winds, more than 100,000 public sector workers on strike, and the tourism hotspots in the global travel spotlight. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Louvre’s director acknowledged a “terrible failure” at the Paris tourist attraction after a daylight crown jewel heist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,2567,499,500,67,501,156,111,139,69,1979,1745],"class_list":["post-95313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-russia-invades-ukraine","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}