Necklace once owned by Egypt’s Queen Nazli stolen from Vienna museum in armed heist

A diamond necklace once owned by Egypt's Queen Nazli has been stolen from Vienna’s MAK museum in an armed daylight robbery. Austrian police have reported the incident, revealing that two armed men stormed the museum around 2 p.m., threatening museum visitors with a firearm as they smashed a display case and took the necklace. The rare piece, featuring 673 diamonds and weighing over 200 carats, holds significant historical and material value.

Queen Nazli famously wore the necklace during her daughter Fawzia's wedding. The necklace has a complex history, having been sold by Queen Nazli in the 1970s due to financial struggles and later purchased by Van Cleef & Arpels in 2015 after a Sotheby’s auction for approximately $4.3 million. The daring heist echoes a similar daylight theft at France’s Louvre Museum, which also occurred during broad daylight and at a similar time.

Austrian police are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the theft, as the armed suspects successfully fled the scene with the historic necklace.