{"id":138885,"date":"2025-10-22T18:55:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T18:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/138885\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T18:55:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T18:55:14","slug":"louvre-director-acknowledges-terrible-failure-following-daylight-crown-jewel-robbery-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/138885\/","title":{"rendered":"Louvre director acknowledges \u2018terrible failure\u2019 following daylight crown jewel robbery \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The director of the Louvre Museum has acknowledged a \u201cterrible failure\u201d at the Paris<\/a> monument after a stunning daylight crown jewel heist at the world\u2019s most-visited museum, and said she offered to resign, but it was refused.<\/p>\n

The Louvre reopened on Wednesday to long lines beneath its landmark Paris 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 the museum had a damaging shortage of security cameras outside the monument and other \u2033weaknesses\u2033 exposed by Sunday\u2019s theft.<\/p>\n

Under heavy pressure over a theft that stained France<\/a>\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

[\u00a0Louvre museum robbery: how the thieves broke in, what they stole and what happens nextOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u2033Today we are experiencing a terrible failure at the Louvre, which I take my share of responsibility in,\u2033 she said.<\/p>\n

The thieves slipped in and out, making off with eight pieces from France\u2019s Crown Jewels at the world\u2019s most-visited museum \u2013 a cultural wound that some compared to the burning of Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2019.<\/p>\n

The Sunday raid \u2013 steps from the Mona Lisa and valued at more than $100 million \u2013 has put embattled president Emmanuel Macron<\/a>, culture minister Rachida Dati, Ms des Cars and others under fresh scrutiny.<\/p>\n

It comes just months after employees went on strike, warning of chronic understaffing and under-resourced protections, with too few eyes on too many rooms.<\/p>\n

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

\"AA necklace and earrings set, once owned by Empress Marie-Louise, which was stolen on Sunday. Photograph: Stephane de Sakutin\/ AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

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

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

Three days on, the jewels remain missing and the thieves are still at large \u2013 and reactions are divided.<\/p>\n

Amanda Lee (36) an art teacher from Chicago, said: \u201cFor a place like the Louvre, it\u2019s unfathomable. I 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 (41) a French lawyer from Versailles visiting with her two children during a school holiday, said: \u201cWe told the kids it\u2019s a history lesson. The Apollo Room is shut, but we saw the masterpieces.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came for the art. The police can deal with the thieves.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\"ThievesThieves used an extendable ladder to access the museum\u2019s Seine-facing facade and forced entry through a window. Photograph: Thibault Camus\/AP <\/p>\n

Then came the getaway on motorbikes through central Paris.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

It said no uniformed police were posted in the corridors. With school holidays swelling demand, the day was fully booked and access was limited.<\/p>\n

Tomas Alvarez (29) a software engineer from Madrid, said: \u201cI didn\u2019t notice extra security; guards as always and no police inside. It felt like a normal day.\u201d<\/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-Amelie 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.<\/p>\n

Empress Eugenie\u2019s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch \u2013 an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship \u2013 were also part of the loot.<\/p>\n

One piece \u2013 Eugenie\u2019s emerald-set imperial crown, with more than 1,300 diamonds \u2013 was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau valued the haul at about \u20ac88 million, a \u201cspectacular\u201d figure that still fails to capture the works\u2019 historical weight.<\/p>\n

She warned the thieves would be unlikely to realise anything close to that sum if they pry out stones or melt the metals \u2013 a fate curators fear would pulverise centuries of meaning into anonymous gems for the black market.<\/p>\n

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

\"AA set of jewelry displayed at the Louvre which was stolen on Sunday morning. Photograph: Stephane de Sakutin\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

All this comes after Mr Macron announced new measures in January for the Louvre \u2013 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 \u2013 the Mona Lisa is behind bulletproof glass in a climate-controlled case \u2013 yet the break-in exposed seams elsewhere in a 33,000-object labyrinth.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Louvre heist losses put at almost \u20ac90m as museum\u2019s head prepares to face MPsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

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 too few eyes on too many rooms and creates pressure points where construction zones, freight access and visitor flows intersect.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Louvre\u2019s other star attractions \u2013 from the Venus de Milo to the Winged Victory of Samothrace \u2013 were open again.<\/p>\n

But the cordoned-off vitrines in the Apollo Room, 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. \u2013 AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The director of the Louvre Museum has acknowledged a \u201cterrible failure\u201d at the Paris monument after a stunning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[365,362,363,364,366,18,6586,117,2220,19,17,82215,11935],"class_list":{"0":"post-138885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-emmanuel-macron","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-france","17":"tag-ie","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-napoleon","20":"tag-paris"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}