The Tamesis
When the French Bayeux Tapestry is loaned to the British Museum in 2026, it will receive a guarantee of approximately £800 million ($1 billion) from the British Treasury.
This means British taxpayers will end up footing the bill to protect the 230-foot-long tapestry from damage or loss during its journey from France to Britain. It is part of the UK Government Indemnity Scheme which acts as an insurance company rather than paying commercial insurance. However, nothing will be paid upfront; the £800m is a contingent liability that will only come into play if something goes wrong.
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The Treasury said the scheme had saved UK museums around £81m and covered the likes of Vincent van Gogh’s loan bedroom (1888), at the National Gallery in 2024-25.
British ministers believe the risk of damage to the tapestry is very low due to strict transport and display measures. Treasury told financial times It has “received an estimated valuation” for the tapestry and has had “provisional approval”. Sources expect the final figure to be around £800m. While the Treasury did not dispute this, it declined to comment on the exact valuation.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ approval is needed before the compensation can be implemented. It is part of a wider cultural deal announced by British and French President Emmanuel Macron during a state visit to London in July.
However, not everyone is happy to move the nearly 1,000-year-old wool embroidery. Some in the French art community are concerned that the painting may have been damaged on its way to Britain.
A six-page agreement recently released by the British and French culture ministries details how the tapestry will be transported and displayed. Described as a “fragile and degraded millennia-old textile”, it had to be transported in specially designed crates and displayed behind a protective screen. France will also use a replica equipped with vibration monitoring equipment to oversee the trial run of the transfer. Officials expect the tapestry to be transported by truck through the Channel Tunnel.
Once it arrives in London, the British Museum will take care of it until July 2027 and fund a condition report upon its return to Bayeux. George Osborne, the former chancellor and current director of the British Museum, said it had the potential to become “the blockbuster exhibition of our generation”, comparing it to the 1972 Tutankhamun exhibition.
The tapestry, thought to have been made in 11th-century England, possibly by nuns, tells the story of the 1066 Norman invasion in a comic style. The museum expects the exhibition to generate significant merchandise revenue.
The loan will also coincide with restoration work on the Bayeux. As part of the deal, British artefacts, including the Sutton Hoo treasure, will be sent to a museum in Normandy in exchange.
