From serving plates to stealing silver: Silver steward of Élysée Palace arrested for theft

The Élysée Palace, a place where power is polished daily and protocol gleams brighter than chandeliers, has discovered that not everything that shines is meant to quietly stay in the cupboard.

This week, Paris prosecutors revealed that a silver steward at the official residence of the French president had allegedly been helping himself to the palace's tableware—turning forks, plates and champagne coupes into a side hustle worth tens of thousands of euros.

The estimated loss: somewhere between €15,000 and €40,000. In other words, enough to host several very elegant dinners, just not at the Élysée, says the Associated Press.

The mystery began not with a missing spoon, but with a pattern. The palace's head steward noticed items disappearing from inventory, prompting an internal alert.

The trail soon led outside the palace walls and onto the internet, where the Sèvres Manufactory—supplier of much of the Élysée's porcelain—spotted restricted items for sale on online auction platforms.

Some of the listings were particularly bold. Investigators found, on the suspect's Vinted account, a plate stamped "French Air Force" and Sèvres ashtrays that are never sold to the general public. These were not souvenirs; they were state-issued tableware with pedigree.

Questioning of staff narrowed suspicion to one silver steward whose inventory records raised eyebrows. Rather than simply covering past thefts, investigators say the records suggested preparations for future ones—administrative foresight applied to petty crime.

The plot thickened when police established that the steward was in a relationship with the manager of a company specialising in online sales of decorative objects and tableware. The domestic sphere, it turned out, was less about candlelit dinners and more about warehousing national heritage.

Searches of the steward's locker, vehicle and home uncovered around 100 objects. The haul read like a catalogue of refined taste: copper saucepans, Sèvres porcelain, a René Lalique statuette and Baccarat champagne coupes—items better suited to a museum display than a resale listing.

Both the steward and his partner were arrested on Tuesday. Investigators also identified a third man accused of receiving the stolen goods. All recovered items have since been returned to the Élysée Palace, restoring order to the cupboards of the Republic.

On Thursday, the three suspects appeared in court on charges of jointly stealing movable property classified as part of France's national heritage, along with aggravated handling of stolen goods. The alleged offences carry a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a €150,000 fine.

The court postponed the trial to February 26. Until then, the defendants have been placed under judicial supervision, banned from contacting one another, barred from auction venues and prohibited from continuing their professional activities.

For now, the silver is back where it belongs, the cupboards are presumably locked tighter, and the Élysée has been reminded that even in the heart of the French state, temptation can be as simple as a very nice plate.