Thieves have stolen Tamara Ecclestone's entire £50million ($65million) jewellery collection from her 'Billionaires' Row' mansion hours after she boarded a private jet to Lapland with her husband Jay and daughter Sophia, it was revealed today.
The 35-year-old heiress daughter of former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is said to be in 'complete devastation and shock' after the break-in at her palatial £70million home in Kensington, west London, on Friday night.
The burglars entered the grand house via the back garden and spent 50 minutes stealing every piece of Tamara's jewellery including precious earrings with 'personal meaning' and a £80,000 Cartier bangle wedding gift from her husband.
The gang of three thieves were able to smash open several bedroom safes and fled via an open window despite a guard sitting in a CCTV room and the 57-room mansion being on an exclusive street boasting 24-hour security patrols and multiple checkpoints.
Scotland Yard is today appealing for witnesses to the burglary but have not made any arrests. One line of inquiry for detectives will be if the thieves were helped by someone on the inside who knew the family were away and where their safes were hidden.
Despite the £50million gem theft Tamara put on a brave face as she spent time with her daughter and husband in Lapland this weekend.
Tamara and Sophia smiled as they went through a snowy forest on a sleigh pulled by reindeer, frolicked in the snow with Jay, cooked sausages on an open fire and baked gingerbread together as a family.
Ecclestone lives in the gated property with husband Jay Rutland and their five-year-old daughter and it faces Kensington Palace, where Prince William and his family lives, and backs on to exclusive streets linking Kensington and Notting Hill.
Their neighbours include Foxtons' founder Jon Hunt, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, the Sultan of Brunei, China's richest man, Wang Jianlin and a string of embassies including Russia's all guarded by the Met's elite diplomatic group officers.
Three raiders reportedly broke into Tamara's house through the garden before heading straight to the safes.
Witnesses said they saw three police cars outside the luxury home by Kensington Palace at 11.30pm on Friday when the burglary was discovered.
It is understood that guards were also present inside the 57-room property at the time of the burglary and the thieves left via an 'open window', according to The Sun.
A source told The Sun: 'An estimated £50million worth of jewellery has been stolen from inside Tamara's safe and Jay's safe. Whoever did this was in the house for 50 minutes in total and had time to smash open the safes that are hidden in Tamara's dressing room and Jay's dressing room. Neither would be easy to find.
'The three raiders climbed over the back fence and went into the garden, before somehow gaining access to the house.
'They were disturbed by a security guard after being inside for 50 minutes and are said to have bundled out an open window.'
They said the heist took 50 minutes during which they smashed open the safes in the house which are well hidden.
The burglars then bundled out of an open window and fled the scene.
A spokesman for Tamara, the daughter of former Formula One boss Bernie, confirmed the robbery took place.
The theft took place on one of London's most exclusive streets which has been dubbed 'Billionaires' Row', Kensington Palace Gardens.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson man said: 'Police were called to a residential property in W8, at 23.11hrs on Friday, 13 December, to reports of a burglary.
'Officers attended. It was reported that an amount of high-value jewellery had been stolen. There have been no arrests. Enquiries continue.'
It is not the first time the Ecclestones have been stung by thieves, after Tamara's ex-brother-in-law James Stunt claimed he was the victim of a £90million heist in his Belgravia home in 2017.
But police closed the investigation months later and no arrests have been made.
And in 2010, Tamara's dad Bernie was mugged of his £200,000 jewellery in front of his girlfriend.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
