The Bayeux Tapestry would be worth 916 million euros… despite 24,204 stains, 9,646 holes and 30 tears. The famous medieval embroidery of Bayeux is about to take a historic journey. 70 meters long and recounting the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror, it will be exhibited in London for the first time in almost nine centuries. The British Museum will host the work in its Sainsbury gallery from September 2026 to July 2027. This loan is part of a large-scale bilateral cultural agreement between France and the United Kingdom. It was made official on July 8, 2025 during a joint announcement by President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the British Museum.
Despite the enthusiasm across the Channel, the loan raises concerns among curators and art historians about the fragility of this thousand-year-old work. Since 2020, expert reports have documented numerous damages. Restaurateurs have warned that transportation could make them worse beyond an hour’s journey.
Aware of these risks, the French and British authorities have taken several precautions: a dress rehearsal of the convoy was carried out in April 2025 with a reproduction of the tapestry equipped with sensors, in order to identify and minimize vibrations, shocks and other hazards of the journey. The precious textile will travel by land, in a specially designed crate, transported by truck via the Channel Tunnel rather than by plane.
But if something bad happens, the British government has planned to cover the tapestry with public insurance of around 800 million pounds sterling (916 million euros). The British Treasury has in fact provisionally validated this amount, which it will guarantee via the Government Indemnity Scheme (GIS) – a compensation scheme financed by the State, avoiding museums having to pay insurance premiums for objects of inestimable value. According to the Treasury, without this public guarantee, the cost of commercial insurance would have compromised the arrival of the tapestry.
Bayeux Tapestry Museum
© S.Maurice – Bayeux Museum
