by Sebastien GOULARD
During his visit to the United Kingdom in early July, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th-century masterpiece inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, would be loaned to the United Kingdom to be exhibited at the British Museum starting in early 2026 for a period of one year.
President Macron had already expressed this wish in January 2018, during the Franco-British summit, as a way of strengthening ties between Paris and London. The loan could therefore take place before the end of his second presidential term.
A Unique Work
The Bayeux Tapestry is a remarkable 11th-century work that allegorically recounts the story of William the Conqueror and his conquest of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The embroidered narrative on a linen canvas was designed to legitimize William’s rule, notably by denouncing the perjury of Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon king crowned in William’s place, despite William being Duke of Normandy. The tapestry illustrates a pivotal moment in the history of the British Isles. The new king went on to bring about profound changes in England and ordered the construction of the Tower of London.
It is not known who created the 68-meter-long embroidery, spread across nine panels, but its patron is thought to have been Odo, Earl of Kent and half-brother of William the Conqueror.
Thanks to its wealth of detail, the tapestry provides valuable insight into living conditions, clothing, and weaponry in the 11th century. It also stands as testimony to the deep ties between the histories of England and France.
A First for the Tapestry
Because of its extreme fragility, the Bayeux Tapestry has been moved only on very rare occasions. In fact, it has only been transported twice. In 1803, Napoleon displayed it at the Louvre as he sought to legitimize his rule over Europe. Then, during the Second World War, the work was transferred to the national museums’ storage facility in Sourches, and later to the Louvre, on the orders of the German occupiers. At the Liberation of Paris, the Germans attempted to seize the tapestry. In 1945, it was returned to the Hôtel du Doyen in Bayeux. Since 1983, it has been on display at the Centre Guillaume le Conquérant in the same city.
A Contested Journey
President Macron’s announcement has not met with unanimous approval, and the scholarly community has already voiced its concern about a possible transfer of the Bayeux Tapestry. Historians and conservation experts doubt the feasibility of such an undertaking, given the work’s fragility. Any move could cause irreversible damage to the nearly thousand-year-old masterpiece. At nearly 70 meters in length, the frieze cannot withstand being folded.
Despite expert warnings, President Macron has confirmed the loan to the British Museum, scheduled from September 2026 to June 2027. The decision has been criticized by the public: petitions have been launched against the loan, portraying it as the unilateral act of an omnipotent president disregarding expert advice. If the tapestry were to be damaged during the loan, Emmanuel Macron would be remembered as the president who knowingly endangered France’s heritage. It is a risk he has decided to take.
For British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, however, the loan would be seen as a diplomatic victory, since many of his predecessors had requested it from France in vain.
The Mona Lisa Precedent
Journalists from Le Monde have drawn a parallel with Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, which was loaned to the United States and displayed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and then at MoMA in New York in 1963. General de Gaulle had made that decision to strengthen ties with the United States in the context of the Cold War. Nearly 1.6 million Americans, after hours of waiting in line, discovered the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa. Louvre experts had opposed the loan, deeming the risks too great, but Culture Minister André Malraux argued that these risks were exaggerated when compared with those faced by young Americans who had landed on the beaches of Normandy.
The Mona Lisa would travel once more, to Japan in 1974, to ease tensions at a time when Tokyo was protesting French nuclear tests in the Pacific. The painting narrowly escaped an act of vandalism, but the exhibition was a triumph, attracting 1.5 million visitors in just four months. The masterpiece was also exhibited in Moscow after the Soviets agreed to allow the plane carrying the painting to land on their territory. This marked the final journey of Leonardo da Vinci’s celebrated work.
Towards Closer Ties with the United Kingdom
With this decision, President Macron intends to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors by using the Bayeux Tapestry as a diplomatic instrument. Since the 2016 Brexit referendum, Paris has sought to strengthen relations with London, a key partner for Europe’s security.
Throughout the 20th century, Britain and France cooperated under the “Entente Cordiale” and fought side by side in both World Wars. Later, as nuclear powers within NATO, the two countries worked to defend a free Europe during the Cold War. After the war in Kosovo, Franco-British cooperation was strengthened at the Saint-Malo Summit in 1998, paving the way for the European Union’s autonomous defense. In 2010, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister David Cameron signed the Lancaster House Treaties on nuclear weapons and military cooperation. In July 2025, at the Franco-British summit, the two states further deepened military cooperation by announcing their intention to coordinate nuclear forces in response to external threats. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, coupled with the relative indifference of the American presidency to European affairs, has pushed France and the UK to consolidate their partnership. President Macron is well aware of the British people’s attachment to their history, particularly the symbolism of the Bayeux Tapestry.
According to Emmanuel Macron, the risks associated with this loan are not as serious as those of a disunited Europe in the face of the “Russian ogre.” Nearly a thousand years after its creation, the Bayeux Tapestry could thus serve to celebrate a Franco-British alliance against the threat of disorder in Europe.
Sebastien GOULARD
Sebastien Goulard is a consultant at Cooperans, a consultancy specializing in international relations.
He is also the founder of Diplomarty.
Sebastien Goulard holds a doctorate in economic and social development from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences), Paris. He has been involved in several European research programs focusing on sustainable urbanization in China.
