According to historians Patrick Boucheron and Pierre Singaravélou, the recent burglary at the Louvre, in which jewels were stolen, has been exaggerated by conservatives as a symbol of national decline. Writing in a French newspaper, they argue that the heist is not a harbinger of collapse but rather highlights the chronic underfunding of cultural heritage.
The historians note that France's crown jewels have a turbulent history: stolen in 1792, recovered in 1794, sold off by the Directory in 1796, reassembled under the Empire, and finally auctioned in 1887 under the Third Republic. They point out that many of the gems originated from South Asia during colonial expansion, and that modern France has largely been indifferent to these monarchical trappings.
Boucheron and Singaravélou stress that the stolen items were not the official crown jewels, which have served as a state guarantee fund since Francis I, but rather personal holdings of royal families. They warn against using the burglary as a political prop by the far right, which they say is gaining ground and threatens revolutionary principles of equality and judicial independence.
