Great Gold Toilet Heist: The Inside Story
Mumbai: When the fire alarms began to blare in the early hours of 14 September 2019, Eleanor Paice jolted awake to the sound of smashing glass. She knew something was wrong. At that time, she didn't know that a gold toilet, made of 18 carat gold, weighing 98 kilos, was being stolen. She quickly began evacuating to the great courtyard. But unbeknownst to her, she was running straight into the final moments of an audacious heist.
The BBC put pieced together the sequence for the first time. Five men had smashed their way into the palace, ripped out the £4.8m solid gold toilet and fled in a stolen Volkswagen Golf. The working loo, entitled America, had been on display for just two days at the 18th-Century stately home, plumbed in as part of an exhibition by the Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan.
Now, more than five years on, a total of three men have been convicted in connection with the heist. It was a crime that intrigued art lovers, delighted the press, and coined countless potty-themed puns. BBC gained exclusive behind-the-scenes access to staff at Blenheim Palace to understand the heist and........
© Free Press Journal
