The Bayeux Tapestry is to return to the UK for the first time in nearly 1,000 years, in a landmark loan to the British Museum that has been hailed as a hugely historic moment and the ultimate manifestation of soft power. The 70-metre artefact, technically an embroidery of wool on linen, will be exchanged for UK treasures from Sutton Hoo, in a deal seen as a symbol of post-Brexit Anglo-French rapprochement in comic-strip form.
A record-breaking exhibition
Ticket sales for the exhibition, which opens on 10 September, were the biggest in a single day in the museum's history, with online queues of 80,000. Radio 4 is devoting a day of special broadcasts to mark the arrival of the tapestry, including a new drama with verse from the poet laureate Simon Armitage. The museum's videos explaining the tale of ambition, friendship, betrayal and revenge are narrated by Traitors presenter Claudia Winkleman.
“It probably took more years to deliver this project than all the Brexit talks,” Emmanuel Macron joked in a speech to the British parliament last year. The tapestry depicts 623 men, 190 horses, 35 dogs and only three women, to which one might add a 21st-century British king, a French president, and three British prime ministers who have helped to bring it here.
Overcoming opposition
Two previous attempts – one for Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and another in 1966 – failed. It would not have succeeded this time if the tapestry had not needed to be moved for renovations to the Bayeux Museum in Normandy. Many curators and restorers still believed the risks of bringing it to London were too great. The late David Hockney called the transferral “madness”. An online petition against the move attracted nearly 80,000 signatures. However, political will won.
A political and cultural legacy
From Tennyson's 1876 epic verse drama Harold to an episode of The Simpsons, the tapestry has enjoyed a rich cultural afterlife. But its message has always been political. Napoleon and the Nazis recognised its potential as a propaganda tool. In 2014 Nigel Farage, then leader of Ukip, sported a Bayeux tapestry silk tie during the Rochester byelection, as a reminder of “the last time we were invaded and taken over”. The tie sold out in 24 hours.
The tapestry will return to France for the 1,000th anniversary of William the Conqueror's birth next year. According to Philippe Bélaval, Mr Macron's former culture adviser: “Such a loan will only happen once and never again.” This is truly a once-in-a-millennium event, and its success may pave the way for equally ambitious cultural exchanges in the future.
