The famous Bayeux Tapestry is on display at the British Museum in London.

The famous 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts scenes leading up to the Norman Conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings, arrived in London last week and opened to the public at the British Museum.

King Charles III of Great Britain already examined the famous tapestry last week. The king recalled that he himself is a direct descendant of one of the key characters depicted in the tapestry - William, Duke of Normandy, whose army invaded the British Isles and defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Together with him, the tapestry was examined by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The queue for tickets to the exhibition was reminiscent of the queues for the Glastonbury festival, and tickets are sold out until the end of 2026.

The tapestry is permanently exhibited in the museum of the city of Bayeux in Normandy in northwestern France. It arrived in London via the Channel Tunnel, folded like an accordion into a specially designed case.

Due to strict regulations limiting vibrations during transport to a minimum, test drives were carried out to assess the possible effects of transport.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the sending of the painting to the British Museum as a sign of strong partnership between the countries during his state visit to the UK in July 2025.

The British have been asking the French for almost a century to give them the opportunity to exhibit the tapestry in their country. Great Britain made this request several times, but to no avail.

Now the tapestry has finally arrived in London and is open to the public, although the original agreement struck between President Macron and Prime Minister Theresa May back in 2018 appears to have fallen through due to the difficult post-Brexit relationship between France and Britain under Boris Johnson.

Macron was determined to mend relations and pushed through the tapestry deal despite some vocal opposition in France (including a petition calling it a "crime against cultural heritage").

The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered piece almost 70 meters long and about half a meter high, which is almost 1,000 years old. It tells the story of the events leading up to the Norman invasion of Britain and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

During this battle, William of Normandy took the English throne from Harold Godwinson, becoming the first Norman king of England.

There is still historical debate over some of the facts surrounding the events depicted in the tapestry, which is believed to have been embroidered by English women for the new Norman rulers in the 1070s.

It includes 58 separate scenes with 627 human figures, 737 animals, 37 ships and 23 trees, as well as Latin text accompanying the images. The BBC Russian service spoke in detail about the main scenes depicted in it.

When transporting the tapestry to the UK, great efforts were made to ensure its perfect preservation, but it did not always have such careful owners. It is believed that the final scenes of the tapestry were lost or destroyed.

There were concerns that moving the painting, which is nearly a thousand years old, would be dangerous for it, but French government sources described the conditions for display at the British Museum as “ideal.” The tapestry will be presented spread out, horizontally, as it is believed that this is better for preserving the fibers.

Special envoy for the tapestry, Peter Ricketts, told the BBC that transporting the piece was "totally uncharted territory" and its movement resembled a carefully choreographed ballet.

The embroidery—technically not a tapestry—had to be hung on a collapsible stand, packaged in a climate-controlled box, and surrounded by shock-absorbing springs to avoid damage during shipping.