Count de Paris, a descendant of French kings, asks Louvre thieves to return stolen treasures: 'It's something personal'

The Count of Paris, whose great-grandmother once wore the sapphire tiara stolen from the Louvre Museum, urged the thieves to return the jewels intact for the sake of France's heritage and his family, Reuters reports.

“Give us back the jewels, there's still time,” Jean d'Orléans, a direct descendant of France's kings, told Reuters in an interview at the royal estate of Dreux, 70 kilometers southwest of Paris.

“It's something personal and intimate,” said d'Orléans, 60, flipping through family photos showing his great-grandmother, the Duchess of Guise, wearing the Ceylon sapphire and diamond tiara in 1931. “These jewels were worn on special occasions, at family events, sometimes to create a particular portrait,” he explained.

Another photo showed his grandmother, Isabelle d'Orléans-Bragance, wearing the tiara for the last time at the wedding of Princess Astrid of Belgium in 1984, before it was sold to the Louvre Museum by his grandfather for 5 million francs a year later.

The value of the jewels stolen from the Louvre amounts to 102 million dollars

The broad daylight heist shocked France and left the nation stunned by the audacity of the criminals and the security failures that allowed them to make off with more than $100 million worth of national treasures in a heist that lasted just minutes.

It was the biggest theft from the Louvre since the disappearance of the Mona Lisa in 1911. Police made several arrests.

The eight items stolen were from the 19th century and once belonged to the French aristocracy or the country's imperial rulers.

Among them were the tiara, a necklace and an earring from the sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense.

A tiara and brooch that belonged to the Empress Eugenie, as well as an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings given to the Empress Marie Louise by Napoleon on the occasion of their marriage, are also among the jewels stolen.

Duke of Paris mourns loss of 'priceless heritage'

The sapphire set, purchased in 1821 by King Louis-Philippe from Queen Hortense, remained in the Orléans family for more than a century before being put on public display.

The Count of Paris urged the thieves to return the jewels intact.

“For our family, for the French people, it is important that these jewels return to their display case at the Louvre,” he said, adding that they should be displayed in a renovated hall with increased security measures.

The count, who called on authorities to hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent in the Oct. 19 robbery, compared the public reaction to the theft to the outpouring of emotion triggered by the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire in 2019.

“It's a priceless heritage,” he said. “We have to get it back,” he emphasized.