The Bayeux Tapestry suffered minor damage while being moved from France to the British Museum in London, officials have confirmed.
Two threads were found to have broken after the exceptionally delicate artefact crossed the Channel for what will be its first exhibition in Britain in almost 1,000 years.
Even so, France’s culture minister said Friday that the historic embroidery remains broadly unchanged, describing it as more or less “in the same state.”
The priceless medieval work was transferred to London in July under stringent conservation measures ahead of a major British Museum exhibition, which opens to visitors next week and is scheduled to run until July next year.
“A break of two threads over a length of 70 metres of a tapestry was reported,” Catherine Pegard told French broadcaster RTL.
‘It was examined with particular care. It took a lot of time because the experts went over it centimetre by centimetre.’
‘So today, if we say it is in the same state after having arrived in London as it was when it left Bayeux, I think we’re not very wrong,’ the minister added.
It comes after the tapestry was visited by King Charles III and French President Emmanuel Macron this week during his visit to Britain.
The landmark exhibition, which opens to the public next week, marks a major moment in Anglo-French relations and follows years of negotiations over bringing the extraordinarily fragile artwork across the Channel
Depicting the 1066 Battle of Hastings and the invasion by William the Conqueror’s Norman army, the tapestry is widely thought to have been made in England before being transferred to Bayeux in France (Pictured: The Tapestry in the British Museum)
The loan marks a major moment in Anglo-French relations and follows years of negotiations over bringing the extraordinarily fragile artwork across the Channel.
King Charles described the tapestry as a powerful reminder of the enduring ties between the two countries, saying: ‘The tapestry’s story is one of ambition and uncertainty, of oaths and journeys, of ships, councils, kings, comets and consequences.’
He added: ‘Yet it is not merely an English story, nor only a Norman one. Indeed, from the moment of its creation, it may have brought together our two peoples: commissioned in Normandy, yet most likely to have been embroidered in Canterbury by English craftspeople.’
Depicting the 1066 Battle of Hastings and the invasion by William the Conqueror’s Norman army, the tapestry is widely thought to have been made in England before being transferred to Bayeux in France.
It is believed to be the first time the fragile, 68-metre (224-foot) embroidered artwork has left France since then, and the first time it has been moved in over 40 years.
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La Croix newspaper has reported that a thorough check by experts had confirmed ‘no major damage’ in its initial findings.
They only noted ‘slight tears in two areas’ of the linen canvas.
France’s culture minister Catherine Pegard said the tapestry is still in much the same state, with no major damage reported
The medieval artwork was spirited into the British Museum in the dead of night, after a high-tech, tight-security operation
The UK Government has agreed to provide insurance coverage estimated at £800million in the event of major damage to the tapestry.
The medieval artwork was spirited into the British Museum in the dead of night, after a high-tech, tight-security operation.
The complex move came after experts spent considerable time testing the route it would take in order to protect the fragile fabric.
The transfer – funded by Britain – is the result of over a year of planning and technical studies, including two test trips with a full-scale reproduction of the lace-like linen tapestry.
The tapestry was folded accordion-style in a climate-controlled case, the size of a small car, that was placed inside a shock-absorbing cradle. This went into a truck that crossed from France on a vehicle shuttle train through the Channel Tunnel.
After an 11-hour and 350-mile trip escorted by police, the truck backed slowly into a museum loading bay, where workers gingerly eased the container to the ground.
The Metropolitan Police and Kent Police transported the embroidery from Folkestone to London in what the British Museum has called ‘one of the most significant international museum loans ever undertaken between the two countries’.
The British Museum expects more than one million people to visit the exhibition, potentially making it the institution’s biggest blockbuster yet.
The loan was first announced during Mr Macron’s State Visit to Britain in July 2025, with the UK agreeing to send treasures including objects from the Sutton Hoo burial to France in return.
The diplomatic effort to secure the tapestry has stretched back decades and was complicated by Brexit and the Covid pandemic, as well as concerns about the impact of moving such an old and fragile object.
The British Museum has been contacted for comment.
