An 18th-century gold box that was stolen in a notorious million-pound heist almost two decades ago has been returned home.

       Masked raiders broke into Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire and stole more than a hundred antiques worth millions from the Rothschild Collection in 2003.

       Now 19 years after the heist, one of the small gold boxes has been returned to Waddesdon after it was found at a UK regional auction house in August 2021.

       When the stolen box resurfaced at the auction last year, it was run through the Art Loss Register (ALR), a private database of stolen, looted and disputed art and artefacts.

       Waddesdon Manor is an extravagant French-style chateau built by the Rothschild family

       (AFP via Getty Images)

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       ALR staff confirmed the box was one of the items taken from Waddeson heist, and contacted Thames Valley police who initially investigated the burglary.

       Pippa Shirley, the director of collections, historic properties and landscapes at Waddesdon, said: “The 2003 theft was deeply traumatic for everyone at Waddesdon – I remember it vividly – and this feels such a positive outcome and gives us hope that the other boxes may yet come back to us.”

       The group behind the heist was unmasked in 2006 as a family of serial criminals led by Danny O’Loughlin, responsible for many high-brow home burglaries. Members of the criminal gang were finally jailed in 2007 and 2008.

       The French bonbonnière (candy box) is a small Parisian ornamental box used for sweets and dates from 1775-81. It is circular with gold piqué stars on a dark blue background and a tortoiseshell interior.

       It also has a miniature portrait of an unknown woman holding a basket of roses on its lid.

       Lucy O’Meara, an expert on country house thefts and a recovery specialist at the ALR, said: “It’s an honour to assist in returning a small part of the house’s cultural history to its rightful place, and I am hopeful that the remaining boxes will be reunited with the National Trust collection very soon.”

       The returned gold box will go on display in the Rothschild Treasury from Wednesday.