We failed to guard jewels from 'brutal' criminals, Louvre director says after heist

[ad_1] Who's Laurence des Vehicles and may she maintain her job? printed at 15:28 BST 15:28 BST

Paul Kirby Europe digital editor

<img alt="Laurence des Cars and Rachida Dati attend the "Le Grand Diner du Louvre" Passage Richelieu Photocall at Musee du Louvre on March 04, 2025" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/10/22/8ff45e51-697a-4477-a83a-6e6dc5e63710.jpg.webp" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/10/22/8ff45e51-697a-4477-a83a-6e6dc5e63710.jpg.webp 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/320/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/10/22/8ff45e51-697a-4477-a83a-6e6dc5e63710.jpg.webp 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/480/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/10/22/8ff45e51-697a-4477-a83a-6e6dc5e63710.jpg.webp 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/624/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/10/22/8ff45e51-697a-4477-a83a-6e6dc5e63710.jpg.webp 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/681/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/10/22/8ff45e51-697a-4477-a83a-6e6dc5e63710.jpg.webp 681w" width="681" height="383" class="ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950"/> Picture supply, Getty Photos Picture caption, Laurence des Vehicles with Rachida Dati, the tradition minister, earlier this 12 months

The primary feminine director the Louvre because it got here into being in 1793, she has saved her silence till now on the extraordinary occasions at her museum which have shaken France.

Laurence des Vehicles' place is so vital, she was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in 2021 with an unimpeachable document as former director of two of France's most vital museums: the Musée d'Orsay, additionally on the banks of the River Seine, and the Musée de l'Orangerie.

She got here to the Louvre submit promising to make an overcrowded museum extra participating and dynamic to the 8.7 million guests it welcomes yearly.

After Sunday, her place has change into very totally different and her identify will any more be linked to the Louvre heist and the safety that by some means failed to guard a few of France's most respected heirlooms.

Standing alongside the tradition minister, Rachida Dati, on Sunday night, she appeared pale, say commentators.

She handed in her resignation to the Élysée Palace just for it to be rejected. "It could be counter-productive to chop off a head at present, if it is not the appropriate one," a Palace official mentioned, in accordance with Le Figaro newspaper.