Is Britain’s delicate deal to borrow the Bayeux Tapestry from France a diplomatic coup or a cultural gamble?

When the Bayeux Tapestry goes on display at the British Museum later this year,

It will be the culmination of one of the most influential cultural exchanges of this century.

Nearly a thousand years old, the tapestry is one of Europe’s earliest visual stories. A mediaeval graphic novel, if you will, that has shaped how we remember 1066 and how William the Conqueror came from France to become King of England.

And it’s bigger and wider than a football field.

11th-century masterpiece being borrowed from france And will be displayed in an exhibition at the British Museum from September. then forget it Taylor Swift Or Oasis – insiders are expressing this apprehension Glastonbury. There is a competition to get tickets.

“Next year we’re expecting 7.5 million visitors,” George Osborne, chairman of the British Museum, tells Sky News. “That’s more than the entire 270-year history of the British Museum.”

According to museum director Nicholas Cullinan, the state-to-state loan should be seen as an international programme that “shows that culture can bring people together”.

But while it’s no doubt a diplomatic coup, the decision to move the fragile Norman masterpiece in the first place is a controversial one.

‘You don’t play with a masterpiece like this.’

From 2005 to 2010, Isabelle Attard was director of the Bayeux Tapestry Museum in France. A former vice-president of the Green Party in the French National Assembly, she thinks French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to loan the masterpiece is a “joke”.

“I’m not sure everyone understands how delicate the tapestry is,” she says. “Emmanuel Macron [has] never heeded the advice and opinions of people with expertise in textile conservation.

“You don’t play with a masterpiece like this because it can’t be changed. I was amazed that the curators at the British Museum could just see [the tapestry] like a normal thing. This is not the case.”

Attard’s sentiment is shared by renowned British artist David Hockney, who said in an op-ed for The Independent that “some things are too precious to take risks” and warned that moving it could cause “the fibres to contract or expand or the colours to fade”, all for the sake of “museum vanity”.

The British Museum has repeatedly stressed that it has experience transferring precious artefacts internationally and is not taking the tapestry’s fragility lightly.

“A museum’s primary concern is looking after objects either in its care or on loan, and we send about 3,000 objects each year,” says Cullinan. “We have incredible conservation staff doing this every day.

“Of course, the tapestry is vital. There is a certain degree of fragility to it, but the reality is that much more delicate things travel all the time.”

Secret ‘dummy run’ to test the route

For security reasons, the museum cannot reveal when the tapestry is being transported to London. We know that it is being run on lorries, going by road and rail, and that secret “dummy runs” of the route are taking place.

And it has already been carried a short distance. When its official home in Bayeux closed for renovation last September, 80 people helped prepare it, first carrying it over the railing, then covering it with cotton wrap and putting it in a storage box.

Despite taking great precautions, not everyone believes the move is worth the risk. More than 77,000 people have signed a French petition calling it a crime against their heritage.

In Bayeux, while some locals were in favour of at least having the show again somewhere, others told us they were worried.

“It’s outrageous… there’s no reason to let them keep it,” a city man named Joel told us. “We don’t know in what condition it will be returned.”

Julie, a young café worker, says it sounds “disappointing”, and “when you read studies from experts, they mostly say it’s not worth travelling right now”.

Is the risk worth the reward?

But Dr David Musgrove, author of The Story of the Bayeux Tapestry: Unravelling the Norman Conquest, says it is “a question of risk and reward”.

He acknowledges that the object is fragile but adds, “The reward is that it actually promotes its long-term survival because it means everyone will be aware of it. It’s giving it massive media attention.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has agreed to sign the compensation paperwork, which effectively means British taxpayers will be on the hook anything up to £800 million. Should there be anything wrong with this step?

As a former chancellor, Osborne says this is standard practice.

He says, “I’m really grateful to the government… and to Rachel Reeves for signing the reparations on behalf of everyone.” “It’s the taxpayer who stands behind this, but it’s not unusual.”

Lord Peter Ricketts, the messenger of the Bayeux Tapestry loan, firmly believes the move is cause for celebration.

He says, “The French are rightly very concerned about ensuring that it comes here and goes back, and we have promised that it will return in the same condition in which it arrived.”

“I think that after Brexit, Macron was really looking for a way to remind people that UK-French relations are important and that they go deep into the culture of both countries.”

And… what about the Elgin Marbles?

While the British Museum is eager to accept loans on behalf of Britain, several countries, including Greece, will closely monitor the situation.

Could such a loan pave the way for the return of the Parthenon statues, also known as the Elgin Marbles, to Greece?

“I’m involved with the Greek government,” Osborne says. “I’d love to do an exchange there. It’s hard to get everything right and it’s hard to align everything, but I’m really working hard to try and make it happen.”

The Bayeux Tapestry will open in early September, with general admission tickets going on sale from July 1.