The Crown’s Set Falls Victim to a $200,000 Antique Heist

So far, updates on The Crown’s upcoming season 5 have consisted of paparazzi photos of Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana’s doppelgänger. Thanks to some thieves who are so far proving elusive, we now have a quite different sort of news. On Thursday, Variety reported that more than $200,000 worth of props were stolen from the hit Netflix series’s set while production was underway nearby. The loot comprised of 350-plus items, including a dressing table, a grandfather clock clock face, a replica 1897 Imperial Coronation Fabergé egg, St. Louis gilt Crystal glassware and decanters, and 12 sets of silver candelabra. The goods were obtained from three vehicles parked in Mexborough, Yorkshire.

“We can confirm the antiques have been stolen and we hope that they are found and returned safely,” a Netflix spokesperson told Variety. “Replacements will be sourced, there is no expectation that filming will be held up.” In the meantime, the studio has made an appeal to readers of Antiques Trade Gazette, alerting them of rogue items such as “some Russian religious icons” and “a clock face from a William IV grandfather clock (but not the longcase in which it was enclosed).” “The items stolen are not necessarily in the best condition and therefore of limited value for resale,” set decorator Alison Harvey told the weekly. “However, they are valuable as pieces to the UK film industry.”

It all sounds like a plot point ripe for The Crown itself. The series has memorably depicted nefarious instances such as the time a man broke into Queen Elizabeth II’s bedroom in 1982. (She remained unscathed; he was purely looking for a chat.) Alas, it has neglected to portray several notable crimes the royals have weathered in recent decades—namely, the attempted 1974 kidnapping of Princess Anne. When the gunman told the underrated royal to get out of the car, she reportedly replied, “not bloody likely.”