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Sometimes you are handed stories that are so outlandish that even veteran journalists are forced to raise their eyebrows. The jewelry heist that took place at the Louvre in Paris on Sunday is certainly one of them.
Four men, using a cherry picker truck, climb up the side of the museum, break a second-floor window, take $100 million worth of French crown jewels, and flee with the robbery on a motor scooter in less than 10 minutes. Something out of the movies. Pink Panther. Whatever you say.
I lived in Paris. I’ve covered many front page stories during my time there and beyond – from the death of Princess Diana to several deadly terrorist attacks and the Notre Dame Cathedral fire. now this.
‘Shameless’ Louvre thieves carry out targeted robbery, jewels may be melted: expert
Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palcott reports live in front of the entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris on October 21, 2025. (Fox News)
Luckily, I had a great team with me: professional cameramen and producers John Templeton and Simon Owen, experienced Paris producer from the 1990s, Cecily Medintseff, and a large Mercedes van and driver.
The trip didn’t start off so well – some production bags got lost on the flight from London to Paris. But cameraman John did it. As we chatted with people at the airport, including a nice American couple from Washington state. The robbery had already become the talk of the town.
Our next challenge was to find a location for our live shots. On reaching nightfall, the road near the museum was blocked by police on one side, so we started making our way from the other side. We found a spot in front of the museum’s iconic pyramid-shaped entrance. Night or day, this is one of the great backdrops – as we talked about a horrific crime.
New footage shows a man in a yellow jacket near a display case amid the alleged Louvre robbery. (BFMTV)
The next morning, we headed straight to the crime scene – the back of the museum. We saw the narrow sidewalk where the thieves had parked their truck, the weak window they had cut out, and a piece of wood now covering the area. Even at that time, there was not much security around, except for a parked police vehicle. There was no museum video of the demolition. The miscreants raised the alarm.
Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palcott stands outside the Louvre Museum in Paris, where the burglary occurred, on October 21, 2025. (Fox News)
French official says Louvre museum closed after robbery
We weren’t the only ones staring. A small crowd, including American tourists, stared and wondered. “It seems incredibly easy,” one told us. “Weird,” sighed the other.
But the big crowd was back in front of the museum. Although it was closed that day (it had been closed after a robbery), there was a crowd there – many people wondering about the crime. Many others are taking typical Instagram-style selfies with the Louvre.
With our TV equipment spread out on the sidewalk for live shots, we became another source of attention. “Where did this happen?” One person asked. “When is the museum reopening?” asked another. Another American tourist came and described how he and his wife had visited the museum the day before the robbery and could already tell that security was very poor.
Louvre director complains over spectacular security failings including pointing cameras away from prominent balcony
Police officers stand near the pyramids of the Louvre Museum after reports of a robbery in Paris, France on October 19, 2025. Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes TPX Images of the Day (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)
As more details of the crime came to light, the story became even more strange. How thieves stole his truck just 25 miles from Paris. How they were in such a hurry that they left behind a crown studded with more than 1,300 diamonds (they found eight other pieces). And how police – making up for lost time – gathered evidence, including a construction-style vest, a glove, a license plate and video of the suspects fleeing on a highway outside Paris.
And the French were doing another thing they are good at – pointing fingers and blaming. President Emmanuel Macron is facing a lot of political headaches these days. The last thing he needed was a high-profile disaster. He promised that the culprits would be caught. To his credit, the museum’s director offered his resignation (it was rejected) but he received a fair amount of criticism from the French Senate.
The Fox News team, from left, Greg Palcott, cameraman John Templeton and producer Simon Owen, at the Louvre in Paris on October 21, 2025. (Fox News)
All of this, as we saw, was a race against time for a team of 100 French police investigators – one of the largest operations in French history – to catch the thieves before they had a chance to break into the jewelry, re-cut the gems, and melt down the gold and silver to sell. Part of a growing trend of museum robberies.
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In addition to hearing my on-air colleagues express surprise about the crime, we also had our share of the “difficult” workload of being sent to Paris. And, indeed, it felt great to see my old hometown again. Paris is amazing. But I should also note that aside from the fine brasserie wrap dinner, the trip was more about crowding into café chairs to write scripts and use the facilities — as well as Uber Eats, French style.
Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palcott with Paris producer Cicely Medintseff at the Louvre in Paris on October 21, 2025. (Fox News)
So now we wait to see how this incredible French crime case unfolds. Most of the people we heard from were confident that the robbers would be caught and the museum’s security would be updated. But he doubted that the priceless jewels – dubbed the “soul” of France – would ever be recovered. The Louvre has reopened. Let’s hope this film genre story has a happy ending.
