Swedish Crown Jewels Heist

I have long been fascinated by art and jewelry heists, so am tracking last week's stunner: the brazen daylight theft of Sweden's crown jewels, getaway speedboat and all!

First, a little context...

The setting: Strängnäs Cathedral sits on a hilltop is located about an hour from Stockholm by train. The brick cathedral was built in the mid-1300's in characteristic Scandinavian Brick Gothic style. It replaced the original wooden church, built on a spot where pagan rituals took place in the 12th century.

The treasure: A glass case in the cathedral holds the 17th century burial regalia once belonging to King Karl IX and his wife Queen Kristin.

The heist: On July 31,2018, a theft raid was carried out inside the church, the thieves making off with two crowns and an orb.

The idyllic setting of Strägnäs Cathedral
made it perfect for a speedboat getaway
Creative Commons image henrikj on Flickr

"From 'The Italian Job' to 'Heat', Hollywood has been obsessed with pulse-racing heist movies for decades. And for the perfect robbery flick, you need always need two crucial elements: absolutely shameless self-confidence and a killer getaway plan. Now robbers in Sweden have put together an operation that rivals anything Hollywood could come up with. According to Reuters, thieves have stolen two 17th century crowns and an orb from the Swedish royal family’s collection, before making off in a motorboat..." [read more].

A pair of brazen thieves appear to have made a clean getaway after stealing Sweden's crown jewels. [In] the daring daylight robbery... two men smashed their way into a display cabinet and grabbed two historic royal crowns and an orb. An alarm sounded, but no one in the church was able to stop the men as they hopped aboard two bicycles and made their way down to the shore of nearby Lake Malaren, where they had moored a speedboat. Police carried out a search using their own boats and a helicopter... but could find no trace of the thieves. 'By boat you can reach Malaren, Koping or Arboga in the west, or Vasteras, Eskilstuna or Stockholm if you drive east' ..." [read more].

Strängnäs Cathedral
Creative Commons image henrikj on Flickr

"Sweden's government and police force has declared a 'national alarm' following the theft of priceless crown jewels, including two crowns and a royal orb. The national alarm in used to alert police forces about a serious situation that needs extra measures, revealing the severity of the daylight robbery at Strängnäs Cathedral... The gold-plated and jewel-encrusted crowns belonged to Queen Kristina and King Karl IX respectively, and the cathedral has now been closed to closely examine the crime scene..." [read more].

"The cathedral was open to the public when the jewels were stolen from locked-up glass boxes. Karl IX was the King of Sweden from 1604 until his death in 1611. The two crowns are the burial crowns from 1611 but were later exhumed and put on display. Both crowns are made of gold and inset with pearls and other precious stones. Christofer Lundgren, dean of the cathedral, said: 'This is part of the national cultural heritage - this is a theft from Swedish society.'..." [read more].

Interesting fact: This isn't the first time an attempt has been made to steal the Swedish treasure. Thieves managed to steal part of the crown jewels in 2013, but they were recovered in a ditch following an anonymous tip.


To learn more
Thieves steal Swedish royal crowns, flee in motorboat - Reuters
Sweden declares national alarm following theft of crown jewels
Priceless Swedish Crown Jewels are STOLEN - Daily Mail
The Swedish crown jewels have been stolen in a heist straight out of Hollywood - Shortlist
Theft of Swedish crown jewels sheds light on other high-stakes robberies - CBC