Bayeux Tapestry makes historic London debut after 950 years in France

For nearly a millennium, the Bayeux Tapestry remained in France — a stitched record of conquest that the conquered nation had never been permitted to receive on its own soil. In September 2026, that long stillness ended when the British Museum opened an exhibition of the 70-meter embroidery, marking the first time the artifact had crossed the Channel in centuries. The loan required delicate negotiation between governments, conservators, and institutions, but the deeper logic was historical: the tapestry tells England's story, and England had waited a thousand years to read it in person. What t