Savoy Jewels Stolen in Paris

The Savoys attend the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills (JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP/Getty Images)

Let’s catch up here on a story I tweeted about a few weeks ago: the theft of jewels from the home of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy and his wife, Clotilde Courau.

The couple attends the pre-wedding gala in Luxembourg, October 2012 (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

The theft took place at the couple’s apartment in Paris while they were away on holiday. Tatler notes that the crime occurred only a few weeks after Clotilde’s handbag, with house keys inside, was stolen on the subway. The article notes, “It is being speculated in the French media that the couple did not get around to changing their locks and that the thieves were able to let themselves inside, suggesting it was the work of professionals.”

Marina, Vittorio Emanuele, Emanuele Filiberto, and Clotilde in Monaco, July 2011 (GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images)

The couple will be familiar to those who pay attention to European royal events. Emanuele Filiberto is the only son of Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, one of the pretenders to the Italian throne, and his wife, Marina. Emanuele Filiberto’s paternal grandparents were King Umberto II and Queen Marie-Jose of Italy, which means that he has Italian, Belgian, Montenegrin, and German royal heritage.

Clotilde sparkles at the Official Trophee Chopard Dinner Photocall in Cannes, May 2019 (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Chopard)

Clotilde is a famous French actress. We’ve occasionally covered her jewelry here on the site, but as she often appears at events sponsored by jewelry brands (like the Chopard dinner above), it’s hard to know which jewelry she owns and which has been loaned to her. It’s estimated that the stolen jewelry was worth between 200,000 and 500,000 euros.

The couple on their wedding day in 2003 (VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)

I’m really, really hoping that the Savoy Tourmaline Parure was not among the stolen pieces. Clotilde wore the tiara and earrings from the grand heirloom suite at the couple’s wedding in Rome in 2003.

Clotilde at the princely wedding reception in Monaco, July 2011 (FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

More recently, she wore the earrings for a dinner following the wedding of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco in July 2011.

The couple at the wedding dinner in Monaco, July 2011 (FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

No information has been released about the specific pieces of jewelry taken by the thieves, but one police source called the jewels “recognizable.” These sorts of stories occasionally have happy outcomes, but those seem to be the exception to the rule. Here’s hoping that the family heirlooms were safely stored away at Emanuele Filiberto’s parents’ home in Switzerland, not in Paris.