Louvre Loses Its Director After €88 Million Crown Jewels Heist

The fallout from last year’s so-called “heist of the century” just claimed its highest-profile casualty. The director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, has officially stepped down after thieves made off with €88 million worth of crown jewels from the museum’s Apollo Gallery. Yes, that Apollo Gallery. Inside the world’s largest museum.

According to CNN, French President Emmanuel Macron accepted her resignation on Tuesday, calling it “an act of responsibility at a time when the world’s largest museum needs both stability and a strong new impetus.” Translation: this mess needed a reset.

Des Cars had actually offered to resign earlier, after admitting that the technical systems protecting France’s most valuable treasures were “absolutely obsolete, even absent.” That’s not internet hyperbole. That’s her own assessment. She described the state of monitoring infrastructure as a “terrible observation” for an institution that welcomed 8.7 million visitors in 2024. Of those, 13 percent were American tourists, second only to French visitors.

After the robbery, she first offered her resignation to Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who rejected it at the time. Now, it’s official.

Louvre in Crisis as Strikes, Protests and Security Failures Collide

To be clear, this wasn’t happening in a vacuum. The Louvre has been dealing with mounting pressure for months. Staff strikes last year highlighted complaints about crushing crowds, understaffing and poor working conditions. When employees say the museum feels unmanageable, and then thieves walk out with €88 million in jewels, the optics are… not great.

Macron’s office was careful to soften the landing. The Elysée Palace said the president thanked des Cars for her work and praised her “undeniable scientific expertise.” She’s now been given a new role connected to France’s G7 presidency, focusing on cooperation between major museums. So this isn’t exile. It’s more of a strategic redeployment.

Still, the timing feels loaded. Just days ago, activists at the Louvre hung a photograph of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor slumped in the back of a car after his arrest, dragging yet another headline into the museum’s orbit. Between political protest art, labor unrest and one of the most expensive art thefts in modern French history, the Louvre has been living in crisis mode.

The big question now: who takes over, and how fast can they fix what des Cars herself admitted was “obsolete” security? Because if the world’s largest museum can’t protect crown jewels in its own Apollo Gallery, that’s not just a bad week in Paris. That’s a global embarrassment.