Bayeux for blood? Why French curators are beefing with the British Museum

Dear Londoners — Happy Monday! Aside from the bizarre, spring-like showers that keep happening, it feels particularly autumnal right now — crisp air, golden leaves, an ever-earlier sundown. In France, the start of September is known as la rentrée, when students and employees get back to work. But more than that, it's a time of renewal and refocus; a call to take stock and plan for the future.

For us, this September is the start of something particularly exciting — our weekend appeal saw us soar over 800 paid subscribers, and we can't wait to buckle down and show you exactly what the Londoner can do with the backing of our amazing, constantly growing community. There's a real sense of momentum to moments like this; a feeling that, together, we're building something incredible. So I want to thank you, personally, for getting behind us — it's the start of something beautiful. And if you ever want to reach out, either to pass on a tip, suggest something you'd like to see or simply to say hello, please do get in touch.

Surprisingly, France is somewhat of a recurring theme in today's briefing, with our big story centring around a group of experts who vociferously oppose the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum. Aside from that, find out more about the giant Sleeping Beauty at Somerset House, go behind the scenes of Lambeth Palace and discover why a viking longboat is docked at Wapping.

Big story: The French government insists the Bayeux Tapestry is fit to travel to the British Museum. Experts disagree.

Top line: From September 2026, the Bayeux Tapestry is coming to the British Museum for nine months. But French art historians and cultural advisors are mounting a campaign against the loan. 

The background: The 70-metre-long tapestry — which depicts the 58 scenes from the 1066 Norman conquest of Britain, including the Battle of Hastings — is regarded as one of the Western world’s most precious artistic treasures. Usually, it lives at a special museum in — you guessed it — Bayeux (in Normandy) and, although the UK has repeatedly asked to display it on loan, that request has always been denied. But while the institution constructs a new exhibition space for the work, which will take around two years, French president Emmanuel Macron has decided to loan it to the British Museum. In a reciprocal move of cultural diplomacy, the British government will loan the Sutton Hoo ship burial artefacts and 12th century Lewis chess pieces to museums in Normandy.

So what’s the conflict?: At nearly 1,000 years old, it’s miraculous that the colossal tapestry has survived almost intact — and it’s unique in doing so. But according to French art historians and specialist art conservators, transporting the fragile work hundreds of miles before it is due to be restored is putting it at serious risk. A petition with over 60,000 signatures started by Didier Rykner, the editorial director of art news site La Tribune de l’Art, argues that it is a “cultural crime” and says that the tapestry is essentially untransportable due to both age and the fact that it has been weakened by being suspended from a rail since it moved to the Bayeux Museum in 1983. A 2021 pre-restoration study “advised strongly against transporting the tapestry over a long distance (for more than an hour)”.

Political machinations?: The petition contends that President Macron has ignored the advice of experts in a “purely political decision” — a grand gesture that puts international relations over the needs of the tapestry. “It’s discrediting our profession,” the Guardian reports an anonymous curator as saying. “Not listening to us is like saying we’re useless.” 

Can’t they just darn it?: Probably not. Curator Thalia Bajon Bouzid said any damage to the tapestry would be impossible to fix: “Tears would not be repaired, for reasons of authenticity.” A 2020 report by eight antique textile experts in 2020 identified 24,204 stains, 16,445 creases, 9,646 deficiencies and 30 non-stabilised tears. But the president’s special adviser on the project, Philippe Bélaval, has stated that the tapestry is “absolutely not untransportable” — and that an “extremely precise” (and extremely confidential) report has detailed the processes needed to transport it safely.

Your news briefing

🚨 An update on the protests held this weekend outside hotels housing asylum seekers: five masked men were arrested after trying to break into the Crowne Plaza hotel in West Drayton on Saturday, while four men were arrested and a Met police officer was allegedly punched in the face at Canary Wharf shopping centre on Sunday. Around 50–100 attended the anti-immigration march, which began outside Britannia International hotel, where around 100 anti-fascist counter-protesters were also gathered.

🛶 A replica of a Viking longboat, the Saga Farmann, has sailed up the Thames after a round-Europe trip retracing historical trading routes. After setting off from Tønsberg in Norway in April 2023, the 18-capacity ship rotated its crew every fortnight as it travelled through the rivers of central Europe before heading out to the Mediterranean via Istanbul. Head to the Classic Boat Festival at St Katherine’s Docks this weekend to check it out.

🍽️ One of the capital’s deputy mayors has called for al fresco dining to become “the norm rather than the exception”, pointing to cities such as Paris and Barcelona where the practice is much more widespread. This follows a government announcement that City Hall would be given new licensing powers enabling it to intervene in local council bans on later opening hours for restaurants and bars. But boroughs often face stiff opposition, with residents’ groups such as the Soho Society vociferously opposing outdoor dining on streets within the West End. 

Quick hits: Oxford Street to go car free for one day; the London plastic surgeon who’s saving lives in Gaza; campaigners say Liverpool St Station plans should be rejected “on eco grounds”. 

In case you missed it…

• On Wednesday, Andrew explained whether or not the capital’s residents should be worried about running out of water in the coming years (and how a second Great Stink might happen). 
• On Thursday, freelance writer Peter Carlyon went inside the case of a London-based ring illegally selling tainted meat to customers. 
• For our weekend reader, Londoner editor Hannah explored why contemporary Londoners attend a vigil held every month at Crossbones Graveyard, a cemetery in Southwark historically used to bury paupers and local sex workers.  

Our favourite reads and watches

Meet the 'Bus Aunty' who's gone viral on TikTok — Eric Anderson and Fosiya Ismail, BBC

Meet mental health nurse Bemi Orojuogun or, as her many TikTok followers know her, “Bus Auntie”. Orojuogun’s format is deceptively simple: a short video in selfie format with one of the capital’s many buses behind her. But the genuine warmth and affection she has for London and the TfL drivers who keep the city running is infectious. 

Subscribe

Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.

Wright and Wright balances "continuity and change" in Lambeth Palace overhaul— John Astbury, Dezeen 

The refurbishment of Lambeth Palace — the 800-year-old seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury that faces the Houses of Parliament across the river — has finally been completed. Head over to Dezeen to find out how architects spruced up the Grade I-listed building while remaining sympathetic to its heritage. The works took three years in total, at a cost of £40m. 

To Do List

1. Catch Turner Prize-winner Tai Shani’s giant slumbering princess in the courtyard of Somerset House until 15 September. Bringing together sculpture, radio, live gatherings and a host of guest contributors, The Spell or The Dream is a fairytale — or nightmare — of a figure who has slept through “warnings of present and imminent catastrophes, political and social disaster and environmental collapse”. Make sure you go between 12–4pm, when you can experience the installation in full with the fountains switched off.

2. Beginning in 1955, Associated-Rediffusion was the UK’s first commercial channel; a mixture of high- and low-brow programming aimed specifically at Londoners. Now, a new BFI season is screening their pick of the archives, alongside thoughtful talks and debates contextualising the era’s political and social climate. Our picks: the two Harold Pinter adaptations, a groundbreaking documentary and drama about interracial marriage, and a selection of oddities and trivia. 

From the archive

Titled "Lewisham and Ladywood: The Dilemma Before Us", this special broadcast from 1977 covered the Battle of Lewisham, a violent confrontation between far-right National Front demonstrators and anti-fascist counter-protesters in New Cross. Read more about the history of the event here.