The director of the iconic Louvre in Paris is under scrutiny over apparent security lapses that allowed thieves to make off with jewels worth more than $100 million.
In her first public speech since the robbery, Laurence des Cars, director of the Louvre Museum, acknowledged there had been a “terrible failure” and said: “Despite our efforts, despite our daily hard work, we have failed.” The Guardian reported this.
Des Cars admitted that security around the Louvre was an issue and that the only camera monitoring the exterior of the museum was looking away from the balcony leading to the gallery where the precious jewels were kept, according to reports. The Guardian also noted that Des Cars confirmed that all of the museum’s alarms were functioning during the burglary.
LOUVRE HEIST ADDS TO HISTORY OF LARGE-PROFILE MUSEUM BREAKFASTS, LEAVES OTHER GALLERIES ON THE EDGE
Louvre Museum director Laurence des Cars made her first public comments since the recent jewelry heist during a press conference on October 22, 2025 in Paris, France. (Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)
“We failed these jewels,” Des Cars said the BBC. The outlet also quoted the director as saying that no one is safe from “brutal thieves — not even the Louvre.”
On Sunday, burglars appeared to use a truck-mounted electric furniture lift to carry out the heist, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in an interview with RTL radio, according to The New York Times. She added that the thieves obtained the lift by pretending it was a move. Additionally, Beccuau noted that it wouldn’t be easy for burglars to sell the stolen jewelry for what it’s worth if they tear the pieces apart or melt them down, according to the Times.
Police cordon off the area outside the Louvre in Paris, where burglars used a truck-mounted moving elevator to reach a second-floor window and steal royal jewelry worth more than $100 million. (Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
HOW LOUVRE BURGLARY OBTAINED A TRUCK-MOUNTED LIFT TO DEAL WITH JEWELERY VALUED OVER $100 MILLION
The thieves made off with a total of eight items, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense. They also stole an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, and a reliquary brooch. Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her large brooch with corsage bow – an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship – were also part of the loot.
“The theft committed in the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech. X message on Sunday. “We will get the works back and the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Every effort is being made to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris public prosecutor’s office.”
Forensic police officers arrive at the Louvre Museum after reports of a robbery in Paris, France, on October 19, 2025. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)
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The robbery has led to a national reckoning, with some officials comparing the shock to the 2019 Notre Dame fire. Beccuau told RTL radio that the team investigating the robbery had grown from 60 to 100 investigators, underscoring the importance of the case at a national and international level.
