French official insists that Bayeux tapestry not too fragile for UK loan

This photo taken Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019 shows the 11th-century tapestry chronicling the Norman conquest of England, in Bayeux, Normandy, France. KAMIL ZIHNIOGLU / AP

A French official overseeing the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK said on Friday, August 22, that the artefact was not too fragile to transport, defending the move from increasingly sharp criticism.

French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to loan the medieval tapestry − which records the 1066 Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England − to the British Museum next year to celebrate Franco-British relations. But critics have said the move risked causing damage to the priceless object and a petition posted online on change.org calling on Macron to stop a "true heritage crime" had garnered more than 52,000 signatures by Friday.

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