King Charles III’s Monarchy has been impacted by an armed raid in which precious pieces belonging to the Royal Collection were among around $1 million of stolen items.

Snuffboxes belonging to his great grandfather King George V and great grandmother Queen Mary were taken from the Musée Cognacq-Jay, in Paris, on November 20.

Four burglars wielding axes stormed past guards and visitors during the daylight raid before using the weapons to smash open a glass display case.

They took seven works of art including the two pieces on loan from The Royal Collection Trust, the charity which maintains the Monarchy’s art collection for public viewing. The haul was valued at one million euros by French newspaper Le Monde.

One snuffbox had been a present for George V on his 55th birthday in 1920 while the other featured 3,000 diamonds and was bought by Queen Mary in 1932 for £1,000, the equivalent in modern money of around $75,000 according to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator.

An investigation was launched by the Brigade de Répression du Banditisme (BRB), a French police team that specializes in armed robberies.

In a statement, Paris Musées described the incident as a “violent robbery that took place on Wednesday 20 November at the Musée Cognacq-Jay” and confirmed “the theft of seven works of art, including snuffboxes of great historical and heritage value on loan from the Louvre, the Royal Collection Trust and The Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, as part of the Luxe de poche exhibition.”

“Investigations linked to the inquiry and the assessment of this immense loss are underway,” it added, while noting the museum will remain closed until December 10.

“Paris Musées and the City of Paris strongly condemn this criminal act and reaffirm their support for the staff present, who demonstrated great professionalism and an exemplary attitude in the face of this situation,” the statement said.

Among the stolen items was the “Snuff box with a cameo of the Birth of Venus,” which dates back to Germany in around 1740.

The Royal Collection Trust website describes it as a “cartouche-shaped, gold and lapis lazuli snuff box” inset with “an onyx cameo depicting the Birth of Venus.

“In the center, the goddess stands on a dolphin and holds a length of billowing drapery.”

“King George V and Queen Mary formed an important collection of gold boxes,” it continues.

“They were a popular choice of gift to the King. This box was a gift from Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh (1847-1927) on the King’s birthday, 3 June 1920.”

The second was the “Fabrique Royale” Table snuff box. The Royal Collection Trust website describes how it was “bought by Queen Mary” in July 1932 with a price listed as £1,000.

“This spectacular bloodstone box is encrusted with nearly three thousand diamonds backed with delicately colored foils in shades of pink and yellow,” the RCT website states. “It is one of the finest of the series of boxes made in the Fabrique Royale in Berlin and associated with Frederick II (‘the Great’) of Prussia (1712-86).”

The City of Paris said in a statement that on Wednesday, November 20, “the Cognacq-Jay museum, located in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, was the target of a very violent robbery while the public and officers were on site.”

“The City of Paris strongly condemns this violent action during which several objects were stolen,” the statement continued. “The assessment of the damage is underway.”

Williams Brown is Regalrumination.com‘s chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X (formerly ) at and read his stories on Regalrumination.com‘s .

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