The Swedish royal family's priceless crown jewels have been stolen, it has been revealed. The thieves, who lifted two crowns and an orb dating from the 17th century from their locked glass boxes on Tuesday, managed to evade police capture by escaping on speed boats on Lake Malaren. The crown jewels were kept at the Cathedral of Strangnas, a 900-year-old church. Speaking about the theft, police spokesperson Thomas Agnevik told the media: "It's 1-0 to them right now. I have talked to someone at the county administrative board that says it is not possible to put an economic value on them - these are invaluable objects of national interest."
© Photo: iStockThe thieves took the jewels from the cathedral to a waiting speedboat
He continued: "We are looking for a small and open motorboat. We have some different information about how exactly the boat looked. We are now examining all the tips we receive." The gold-plated and jewel-encrusted crowns belonged to Queen Kristina and King Karl IX respectively, and now every effort is being made to find the thieves, including closing the cathedral to closely examine the crime scene. Thomas added: "The police's work has continued during the night but it has not resulted in any significant successes in the form of suspected persons or detention. The police are still keen to get further tips from the public."
Although the Swedish royal family have yet to speak out about the theft, people took to Twitter to discuss the robbery, with many comparing the daring heist to film plots. One person wrote: "Someone stole the Swedish Royal Family's Crown Jewels. They're escaping in a motorboat. This is not a movie. Yet," while another added: "I'm of Swedish descent and I've made multiple heist films but I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE THEFT OF THE SWEDISH CROWN JEWELS."
