Belgian queen's makeup artist 'quizzed over Luxembourg crown jewels theft'

A makeup artist to the Belgian queen has reportedly been questioned by police over the theft of crown jewels belonging to the royal family of neighbouring Luxembourg.

On the direction of a court in Luxembourg, the man is said to have spent a full day helping police investigating the theft from a royal palace.

Investigators believe the theft of jewels from a palace belonging to Luxembourg’s sovereign, Grand Duke Henri, and his wife, Maria Teresa, was committed earlier this year by someone with inside information, the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad reported.

The makeup artist is said to regularly work with Belgium’s Queen Mathilde, and other senior royals, including Queen Paola and Claire, the King’s mother and sister-in-law. He was also reportedly one of a number of beauticians who worked at the 2012 wedding party of Luxembourg’s Prince William and Stéphanie de Lannoy, a Belgian countess.

The individual denies any involvement in the theft, and was released without charge. No detail about the nature of the crime has been released.

Grand Duke Henri, a first cousin of the Belgian king, Philippe, acceded to the Luxembourg throne in 2000 but in 2009 was stripped of his powers to approve laws when he sought to block new euthanasia legislation.

His son, Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg, 26, who was educated at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire and later attended an officer training course at Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, recently took part as a flag-bearer of the 1st Batallion Irish Guards at the changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace. He is an officer of the Luxembourg army, a small volunteer force of less than 500 troops created in 1967 but on secondment with the Irish Guards.

The theft of the Luxembourg jewels is not the only crime committed against Europe’s royal families this year. Last month Swedish police arrested a second man in connection with the audacious theft of two priceless royal crowns and an orb belonging to the Swedish royal family.

The suspects had been seen fleeing on bicycles and then a motorboat from the cathedral where they had been kept. The police inquiry continues and the jewels remain missing.

A spokesman for Luxembourg’s royal family said: “The Grand Ducal court confirms that jewellery has been stolen and that a complaint has been filed.”