Bayeux Tapestry to go on display at British Museum

By Célia Gueuti & Serge Duchêne

Published on 05/06/2026 - 14:57 GMT+2•Updated

15:06

The Bayeux Tapestry is about to leave France. This medieval masterpiece, a 70-metre-long embroidery depicting the Norman conquest of England, will go on display at the British Museum in London from September 2026 to July 2027 to mark the 1,000th anniversary of William the Conqueror.

Usually displayed in Bayeux, in northern France, the tapestry has been loaned by President Emmanuel Macron as part of celebrations of cross-Channel relations.

French Culture Minister Catherine Pégard hailed 'a political, cultural and symbolic gesture': 'In a world that is fragmenting, that sometimes gives in to the temptation to turn inwards, France remains true to itself and opts for cultural outreach. We choose to affirm that the great democracies and ancient nations of Europe are meant to enrich one another', she said.

According to tradition, it was Matilda of Flanders, wife of King William the Conqueror, who is said to have made the tapestry during his military campaign.

Some experts are concerned about the potential damage this 70-metre-long embroidery could suffer; it already contains more than 24,000 stains, 9,000 holes and 30 tears.

The fibres of this thousand-year-old work are extremely fragile. Every change in temperature and humidity levels can cause tearing. A special container has been designed to ensure the work can be transported and to limit vibrations during the journey.

But Pégard said she found 'particularly unfair the insinuations of incompetence that some have sought to spread'.

'Absolutely nothing has been left to chance, especially when it comes to transporting this work,' she said at a press conference in Paris on Wednesday 3 June.

Bayeux Tapestry 'secretly transferred' to the British Museum

The Bayeux Tapestry will be secretly transported to Britain in a shock-proof container so it can go on display in London this year, the culture minister has announced.

The tapestry will be moved, on a date kept secret, to the British Museum in a specially designed case that absorbs vibrations, the minister and ministry officials said.

According to a study by the Ministry of Culture published on Wednesday, following a second test carried out in April, the case can absorb 96% of the force of a major impact over the entire journey.

The conclusions of this study amount to giving the green light for the tapestry to be transported, even though 'zero risk does not exist', the minister noted.

'Never in the history of transporting works of art have so many tests, so many protocols and so many risk checks been carried out for a single move,' said Catherine Pégard, likening the case to 'a newborn's cradle'.

When it returns to France at the end of 2027, the Bayeux Tapestry will undergo a long-planned restoration that had been postponed.

Other medieval works will also be temporarily exchanged between France and the United Kingdom, notably a chess set and funerary treasures found at Sutton Hoo.