Royal Collection Trust Receives £3m Insurance After Paris Museum Heist

The Royal Collection Trust received an insurance payout of over £3 million following the theft of two 18th-century snuff boxes during a violent daytime robbery at the Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris. The stolen items, on loan from the British royal family, included a Fabrique Royale box encrusted with nearly 3,000 diamonds that once belonged to the Russian imperial family and was later acquired by Queen Mary, and another box featuring a cameo of the birth of Venus. The robbers arrived on scooters, threatened security with an axe, and smashed display cases in front of museum visitors and staff. The insurance payout will be placed in a designated fund for enhancing the collection, though the stolen artefacts have not been recovered. Other items stolen in the heist were on loan from the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles. The incident highlights the risks faced by museums and cultural institutions in managing high-value international loans and the importance of insurance and security measures.