Overview

• President Macron’s July visit sealed the cultural exchange that will bring the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum between September 2026 and July 2027.
• In return, the British Museum will lend the 7th-century Sutton Hoo hoard and 20 medieval Lewis Chessmen to museums in Caen and Rouen.
• August press reports revealed that French negotiators sought free or discounted admission for their citizens at the British Museum, a demand UK officials dismissed as a ‘try-on.’
• French officials also considered borrowing the Rosetta Stone and requested that Britain cover transport and insurance costs, but British sources called these proposals non-starters.
• Conservation and logistics teams are finalizing fragile packing and transport plans ahead of the tapestry’s move and the Bayeux Museum’s two-year closure for refurbishment starting September 2025.