Queen Nazli’s diamond necklace stolen from museum

Queen Nazli of Egypt’s diamond necklace has been stolen from a museum in Vienna.

The necklace was on display in a jewellery exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). It was made by Van Cleef & Arpels and contains 673 diamonds weighing more than 200 carats. Around 300 pieces of Van Cleef & Arpels have been on display since early June.

It was stolen at around 2 pm yesterday in the presence of visitors to the exhibition. The thieves smashed a glass display before fleeing the museum. They have not yet been located.

(public domain)

The necklace once belonged to Queen Nazli of Egypt, who was the consort of King Fuad I of Egypt from 1919 until his death in 1936. They had five children together, including King Farouk I of Egypt. Queen Nazli wore the necklace at the 1939 wedding of her daughter, Fawzia, to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the future Shah of Iran.

It was auctioned in 2015 for about 4,3 million dollars (about 3,7 million euros).

In a statement, the MAK said, “Our priority is the safety and well-being of our employees and visitors, and we are grateful that no one was harmed. Thanks to the security teams and law enforcement, the incident was contained. We ask for your understanding that
we are currently unable to provide any information regarding the ongoing investigation or further investigative steps.”