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The British Museum is set to display the Bayeux Tapestry for the first time, a sign of efforts to bolster British-French ties as part of Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to the UK.
The tapestry, a 70m-long celebration of the 1066 Norman invasion of Britain by William the Conqueror, will be lent to the British Museum next year, in what will become one of its biggest ever shows.
People briefed on the loan said it would involve a cultural swap, with Anglo-Saxon treasures from the Sutton Hoo ship burial in Suffolk expected to go to France.
The British Museum is expected to host the tapestry for almost a year, following a deal negotiated over many months, led by George Osborne, the institution’s chair and former Conservative chancellor.
The deal, also brokered by culture minister Chris Bryant, is seen as a coup for the British Museum, which beat London rival the Victoria and Albert Museum to win the rights to host the tapestry.
The V&A had been leading a conservation partnership with the Bayeux Museum in Normandy and had thought that Macron intended it would display the tapestry, according to one V&A official.
“The V&A will be a bit put out,” said one British Museum official. Macron had first mooted a loan of the tapestry during a visit to the UK in 2018, but the proposal stalled amid growing post-Brexit acrimony.
The Bayeux Museum is expected to close at the end of the August for two years before the tapestry is moved to a new building in 2027.
The French president visited Windsor Castle with King Charles on Tuesday, and was taken on a golden carriage ride through the town while his wife Brigitte rode in a separate carriage with Queen Camilla.
Macron is due to give a speech to the UK parliament later on Tuesday afternoon.
The UK government said on Tuesday that France’s EDF had finalised its plan to invest in the Sizewell C nuclear project in Suffolk, though its 12.5 per cent stake is smaller than many in the industry originally expected.
The UK and France are also holding talks on joint defence and migration, but UK government aides have talked down the likelihood of sealing a so-called “one-in-one-out” deal on migration during the visit, though they have not ruled it out.
Macron and Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, are also expected to discuss bolstering support for Ukraine and the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ that may assist in any peace deal with Russia.
