{"id":1183032,"date":"2026-09-02T20:04:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1183032\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T20:04:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:04:41","slug":"king-charles-and-camilla-marvel-at-bayeux-tapestry-as-it-returns-to-britain-for-first-time-in-centuries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1183032\/","title":{"rendered":"King Charles and Camilla marvel at Bayeux Tapestry as it returns to Britain for first time in centuries"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The King, the Queen, the prime minister and the French president visited the Bayeux Tapestry<\/a> together to mark the historic return of the centuries-old artwork to the UK. <\/p>\n

The Tapestry \u2013 the woven record of the Norman Conquest \u2013 has returned to Britain for the first time in almost 1,000 years, on loan until September 2027 as part of a special trilateral agreement between the UK, France and the museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a public display of warm Anglo-French relations, Charles<\/a> and Camilla<\/a> joined Andy Burnham<\/a>, Emmanuel Macron<\/a> and their wives as they walked the length of the 70-metre masterpiece at the British Museum in London on Wednesday afternoon. <\/p>\n

The party stopped at key moments along the 11th-century artwork to hear from curators about historic events such as the coronation of Harold Godwinson and the much-disputed depiction of his death by an arrow<\/a> to the eye at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.<\/p>\n

\"Britain\u2019sBritain\u2019s King Charles III, Emmanuel Macron, president of France, and Queen Camilla arrive to view the Bayeux Tapestry (AP)<\/p>\n

At the end of their walk, it was pointed out to them that a further 1,000 years of history are not included in the work.<\/p>\n

Mr Burnham joked to Mr Macron, who was standing beside the King: \u201cMade in England, they couldn\u2019t bear to show the end\u2026 too difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

The French president smiled and replied \u201chappy end, we\u2019re here\u201d, prompting a laugh from Charles.<\/p>\n

During the visit, the King also pointed out his favourite portion of the tapestry to Mr Macron.<\/p>\n

The King and Mr Macron delivered speeches in celebration of the loan at a reception in the museum\u2019s Great Court for representatives from Britain and France involved in the process and schoolchildren from both countries.<\/p>\n

Before their arrival, Great Russell Street was lined with members of the public waiting to catch a glimpse of the leaders.<\/p>\n

\"KingKing Charles III and Queen Camilla alongside Emmanuel Macron view a section of the Bayeux Tapestry (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Mr Burnham waved to a crowd of journalists as he and Mrs van Heel, wearing a white dress, exited their car shortly before 6pm to wait for their companions.<\/p>\n

About 10 minutes later, to cheers from onlookers, the King and Mr Macron drove up in one car and Camilla and the first lady, both also in white dresses, in another.<\/p>\n

Among those who greeted the royals and the Macrons was the museum\u2019s director, Nicholas Cullinan, and its chair, former chancellor George Osborne.<\/p>\n

The monarch and the president enjoy a friendly rapport, with the King hosting the Macrons for a state visit in July last year.<\/p>\n

Charles rebranded the famous entente cordiale between the two nations as the entente \u201camicale\u201d in his banquet speech in Windsor Castle.<\/p>\n

Mr Macron is the first European leader to visit the UK since Mr Burnham took office, and it is the first time they met.<\/p>\n

The prime minister is then set to welcome Mr Macron to Downing Street on Thursday for their first bilateral meeting, which is expected to focus on tackling small boat crossings, the wars in Ukraine and Iran, and trade and energy.<\/p>\n

\"AndyAndy Burnham (L) and his wife Marie-France van Heel (centre) are greeted by British Museum chair George Osborne (R) (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

The visit is seen as another sign the former mayor of Greater Manchester looks set to continue his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s policy of a \u201creset\u201d of relations between the UK and the EU.<\/p>\n

Mr Burnham said: \u201cThe return of the Bayeux Tapestry to England is a landmark moment in the history of our two nations, and I want people everywhere in the country to be able to enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cAs we celebrate our shared heritage, President Macron and I will continue to strengthen the relationship between our two nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loan of the tapestry to the British Museum has been sponsored by billionaire Igor Tulchinsky<\/a>, the founder, chairman, and chief executive of the quantitative investment firm WorldQuant.<\/a><\/p>\n

At his first Prime Minister\u2019s Questions<\/a>, Mr Burnham also said: \u201cThe loaning of the tapestry is a great example of French-British co-operation, the same co-operation that has helped us reduce summer small boat crossings to a seven-year low.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Bayeux Tapestry is on exhibit at the British Museum (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

The Labour leader also said the Bayeux Around Britain programme, which will see the digital exhibition displayed in museums, galleries and castles in all four nations, would \u201cgive communities across the UK the opportunity to learn about one of the defining stories of our past\u201d.<\/p>\n

A live national history lesson on 14 October will teach thousands of schoolchildren about the significance of the tapestry.<\/p>\n

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said: \u201cThis will be the first generation in 1,000 years who will be able to see this unique part of our heritage and we are determined that children from all backgrounds across every part of Britain have the chance to see it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe British Museum has pulled out all the stops to ensure that a generation of British children will remember it for the rest of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

British Museum director Mr Cullinan said the initiative to ensure the exhibition was not confined to London marked \u201cthe most ambitious and inclusive programme we or any museum in the UK has ever done\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1183033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,320614,34,393,4884,518,257,2607,16,15],"class_list":["post-1183032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-britain","tag-britain-france","tag-emmanuel-macron","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-king-charles-iii","tag-london","tag-queen-camilla","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117203246177814294","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1183032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1183033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1183032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1183032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1183032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}