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Two priceless artefacts stolen more than a decade ago from the crypt of Napoleon III in England have been recovered after an antiques dealer realised he had them while watching a repeat of the comedy drama Lovejoy.
The wooden 19th-century altar cards were taken in a burglary at St Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire in February 2014 and were feared lost for ever.
But Derbyshire antiques dealer Paul Gostelow called police earlier this month after recognising he had two of the three cards that were stolen when he spotted similar Napoleonic motifs on objects featured in the BBC’s Lovejoy show, featuring Ian McShane as a roguish wheeler-dealer.
A spokesperson for the abbey said it was pleased to have the cards back and thanked Gostelow for spotting what they were.
The spokesperson said: “Although the cards have returned in a poor condition, the abbot and community are, nonetheless delighted at their return, and are grateful to the member of the public whose diligence led their recovery. It is hoped that the third card will be found and that those recovered can be restored.”
Hampshire police described the cards as “unique, historically important and priceless”. They said: “After 12 years they were thought to have been lost, until a call to the constabulary from Paul Gostelow, who said he had two of the stolen plaques.
“Paul knew them to be from the Napoleonic era due to the ball and crown in the corner of the frame, which he recognised from an episode of Lovejoy. Efforts will be made to locate the third plaque.”
St Michael’s Abbey was commissioned by the Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, who died in exile in England in 1873. Their son, Louis trained with the British army and was killed aged 23, in battle in 1879.
The bodies of Napoleon III, Eugénie and Louis lie in the abbey crypt. The stolen cards bear texts of handwritten prayers discovered on Louis when he died and were stolen from the crypt altar.
The altar is set beneath the tomb of the Empress Eugénie, whose crown was damaged in a raid on the Louvre in Paris earlier this month.
Until their theft, the cards were used regularly by monks during mass. St Michael’s is a small monastic community where monks live a traditional life of prayer, work and study according to the Rule of St Benedict. They keep sheep, bees and have a small bookbindery.
