Piers Morgan and wife Celia were burgled as they slept by thieves who invaded their bedroom at a luxury French villa.
Celia Walden, 44, hit out at the ‘depraved and despicable’ culprits who targeted their holiday home in Côte d’Azur on Thursday – the last day of the family’s holiday.
She said the burglars managed to get within inches of her and Piers as they slept, taking her handbag from beside her bed which they raided for cash.
The thieves also took handfuls of jewellery from a box which they dumped in the living room, fleeing as they heard the couple’s 6am alarm sounding.
Shocked: Piers Morgan and wife Celia were burgled as they slept by thieves who invaded their bedroom at a luxury French villa (pictured together in February)
Celia said she snoozed the alarm until 6.15am when she got up and discovered what had happened, missing the thieves by just 15 minutes.
‘Knowing how much worse things could have been had we woken to find intruders in our bedroom put things into perspective when it came to working out what had been taken,’ she wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
‘They’d stolen all the cash they could find, right down to the few pounds I hadn’t spent at Heathrow on the way out, but left the credit cards, along with my driver’s licence.
‘I felt a stomach-plummeting sense of violation at the actions of these depraved and despicable inhuman beings.’
Intrusion: Celia, 44, hit out at the ‘depraved and despicable’ culprits who targeted their holiday home (pictured) in Côte d’Azur on Thursday – the last day of the family’s holiday
Security: The journalist, who has been married to Piers, 55, for ten years, said she woke up to discover the room (pictured before the break in) was in complete disarray
The thieves got away with a ring that Piers had gifted her on their fifth wedding anniversary as well as a bundle of money – but they had left Celia’s driver’s licence and credit cards.
She continued: ‘I felt a stomach-plummeting sense of violation at the actions of these depraved and despicable inhuman beings.’
Celia said that the police later told her that the burglars had left just 15 minutes before she woke up after hearing her snooze the alarm.
Increase: Officers said that the summer season sees a sharp uptick in burglaries on the French Riviera as criminals target wealthy holiday makers (Piers pictured alongside sons Spencer and Stanley at the luxury villa)
Officers said that the summer season sees a sharp uptick in burglaries on the French Riviera as criminals target wealthy holiday makers.
Other celebrities who have been burgled previously in the area include Trinny Woodall, Patrick Viera and Richard Hammond.
It comes after the Morgan family made a last-minute dash home from the villa in St Tropez to avoid the UK’s new quarantine rules.
The Good Morning Britain presenter cut short his break to ensure he returned to the UK before the government implemented a new two-week quarantine rule.
Coming back: It comes after Piers joked he and his family were ‘quarantine dodgers’ as they cut the trip short to return to the UK on Thursday before France’s air bridge was removed
Piers – who has kids Spencer, 27, Stanley, 23, Albert, 19, and Elise, eight – posted an image of himself and two of his sons on Instagram upon their return on Thursday.
He captioned the picture: ‘Quarantine dodgers… #France #LeGreatEscape @spencermorgan93 @Bertie_Morgan11 (sic)’
Since Piers returned home, the government has confirmed plans to introduce a 14-day isolation requirement for people arriving from France.
France was added to the UK’s quarantine list on Thursday in a savage blow to tens of thousands of British holidaymakers, as ministers ordered travellers returning from the popular destination to isolate for 14 days.
The quarantine is set to come in at 4am on Saturday – and with an estimated British 500,000 holidaymakers in France, a weekend of chaos looms.
Holiday: Piers made the most of his time on the French Riviera as he met up with famous faces including Amanda Holden (pictured) and Joan Collins
Pals: The TV personality said that he had been to dinner at least three times with Joan during the St Tropez trip as he joked ‘she can’t get enough of me’