Under cover of darkness and heavy police guard, the Bayeux Tapestry - a 68-metre embroidered chronicle of the Norman conquest of England, stitched in wool not long after the events it depicts - is set to cross the Channel within days, the official overseeing its move to London has revealed.
Issued on: 09/07/2026 - 13:17
3 min Reading time
Peter Ricketts, the UK's Bayeux Tapestry envoy, would not be drawn on exactly when the nearly 1,000-year-old “incredibly fragile” embroidery would leave its home in Normandy for the British Museum. "We don't want any untoward incidents happening. And so that's why we're keeping the exact details and date confidential," he said of the tightly guarded operation surrounding the 11th-century artwork. Millions of visitors expected Once it does go on show, though, he wants as wide an audience as possible: "When it's ready to be exhibited, we want millions of people to see it." The loan was first unveiled exactly a year ago, on 8 July 2025, when Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron announced it during a state visit to Britain. The UK government's press release at the time called the piece "one of the most treasured artworks in the world." France to return iconic Bayeux Tapestry to Britain for first time in 900 years That anticipation has already shown in ticket sales: the museum shifted 100,000 on the first day of booking alone, a figure Ricketts said did not surprise him. The show runs from 10 September to 11 July 2027. Few episodes of English history are as well known as the one the tapestry records: every schoolchild learns the date 1066, when William the Conqueror's Norman forces defeated King Harold at Hastings, a victory stitched across the work's length. Fewer people, Ricketts noted, have actually seen the tapestry, or visited Bayeux, where it normally hangs.
