Swedish man, 22, on trial accused of stealing 1611 funeral regalia from cathedral west of Stockholm last July

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Jewellery stolen from the Swedish royal family last year in a daring heist involving a motorboat has probably been found, police said on Tuesday.

Thieves made off with two crowns and an orb worth about 65 million Swedish crowns (£5.5 million) from a hilltop cathedral in Strangnas, 60 miles west of Stockholm, on July 31, before fleeing via the lake system near the capital city.

Police said in a statement on Tuesday that “all seems to indicate King Karl IX’s stolen funeral regalia have been found in the Stockholm area”. More details would come “when we know for sure if it is the stolen regalia”.

A 22-year-old Swedish man is standing trial on accusations of stealing two crowns and an orb from an alarmed display at Strängnäs Cathedral, west of Stockholm, on 31 July.

The defendant, who was arrested on 12 September, has not been publicly identified. A second man has been detained but not charged.

The stolen artefacts are funeral regalia, which are placed inside or on top of a coffin to symbolise a deceased royal’s identity and social ranking.

While some funeral regalia are kept in the cathedrals of Strängnäs, Uppsala and Västerås, Sweden’s crown jewels are in vaults under the Royal Palace in Stockholm.