Burglars Nab Jewelry Worth $64 Million From British Model Tamara Ecclestone

Reuters
By Reuters
December 16, 2019Entertainment News
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Burglars Nab Jewelry Worth $64 Million From British Model Tamara Ecclestone
Tamara Ecclestone arrives for the World Premiere of the film Rush, at a central London cinema in Leicester Square on Sept. 2, 2013. (Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)

LONDON—Tamara Ecclestone, the daughter of former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, has had an estimated 50 million pounds ($64 million) worth of jewelry stolen in an audacious raid from her west London home.

A spokesman said the 35-year-old had been left “angry and shaken” after the burglars apparently evaded both the 24-hour security teams that patrol the street known as “Billionaire Row” and Ecclestone’s own internal security officers.

The daughter of Formula One’s former commercial supremo lives on Kensington Palace Gardens, amongst the residences of the French and Russian ambassadors and close to the Kensington Palace home of Prince William and his wife Kate.

Police said a number of items of jewelry were stolen from a property in West London on Friday night and the suspects had fled the house by the time officers and a dog unit arrived.

The building’s security team had reported seeing three males inside the property.

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A general view of the security gates at Palace Green, the location of Tamara Ecclestone’s home in Kensington in London, England, on Dec. 16, 2019. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

“A fast-paced investigation is underway to locate the suspects and missing items,” said Detective Sergeant Matthew Pountney. “Burglary is a distressing crime and we are keeping the victim up to date with the investigation,” he added.

Rings, earrings, and an £80,000 ($107,000) Cartier bangle are among the items stolen, British tabloid The Sun reported.

The newspaper reported that Ecclestone, a model and celebrity in Britain, had just left the country for her Christmas holidays when the burglars entered the property via the garden and smashed open safes hidden in her bedroom.

Tamara Ecclestone
British model and socialite Tamara Ecclestone poses on the red carpet as she arrives to attend the European premiere of the film “Frozen 2” in London on Nov. 17, 2019. (Niklas Halle’n/AFP/Getty Images)

Ecclestone’s Instagram feed showed her young daughter boarding a private plane on Friday, with a message saying “Pretty excited the holidays are here.”

“I can sadly confirm there has been a home invasion at the Ecclestone-Rutland family home,” a spokesman said, referring to her husband Jay Rutland. “Tamara and family are well but obviously angry and shaken by the incident.”

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Tamara Ecclestone arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London on Feb. 18, 2013. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

The average property price for the street stands at 36.5 million pounds (over $48.6 million), according to the online portal Zoopla.

Other famous jewelry heists in recent times include the July 2018 raid in which thieves stole a number of precious royal artifacts from a Swedish church before escaping by speedboat.

In 2015, burglars broke into Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Co. in London before making off with nearly £14 million ($21.2 million) in gems, jewelry, and cash.

It was later described in court as the “largest burglary in English legal history.”

The CNN Wire contributed to this report.