LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) – King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron visited on Wednesday the exhibition housing the historic Bayeux Tapestry, the nearly 1,000-year-old embroidery which depicts the conquest of England by the monarch’s ancestor William I in 1066.
Under a deal struck with the French government, the 70-metre (230-foot) Tapestry has been loaned to the British Museum from its home in northern France and brought to English soil for the first time since it was made.
Charles and his wife Queen Camilla were joined by Macron and the president’s wife, as well as British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, to walk the length of the Tapestry and study key moments, such as the coronation of Harold Godwinson and his famous death by an arrow during the battle.
In exchange, Britain has accepted to loan the Sutton Hoo Treasure, an assemblage of gold and other historic objects dating from the 7th century AD, and a selection of Lewis chess pieces and other masterpieces, properties of the Trustees of the British Museum, to museums in France.
The loan was confirmed last July during Macron’s state visit to Britain and is seen as a symbol of closer ties between the countries after the discord caused by Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union. The king and the president themselves enjoy a warm relationship.
The exchange of historic treasures is an important gesture towards common understanding, Macron said after the visit. “When our societies doubt, we need places and works of art to look together at what humanity is capable of creating and passing on,” he said.
In his speech, Charles concurred with Macron. “May this tapestry and the treasures that will travel in return stand as symbols not only of our shared past but our shared future – a future woven as it should be by Britain and France together.”
The embroidery, which historians believe was likely commissioned by William’s brother Bishop Odo and stitched by English seamtresses in Kent, recounts the events leading up to the famous Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman defeat of Anglo-Saxon King Harold II.
Every English monarch since, including Charles, can trace their lineage back to William, and his conquest was the last time England was successfully invaded, with 1066 probably the most famous year in the nation’s history.
Such has been the interest that the first batch of tickets to see the medieval masterpiece, costing up to £33, have sold out, generating nearly £2.5 million ($3.4 million) and making it the museum’s best-selling exhibition.
“The 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,” Burnham, who will hold a meeting with Macron at Downing Street on Thursday, said in a statement.
“As we celebrate our shared heritage, President Macron and I will continue to strengthen the relationship between our two nations.”
The embroidery arrived in Britain in July having travelled in an air-conditioned, anti-vibration crate under police escort during a meticulously choreographed journey from France.
The exhibition at the British Museum will open to the public on September 10 and run until July next year.
($1 = 0.7404 pounds)
(Reporting by Michael Holden, Muvija M and Inti Landauro; editing by Sarah Young)
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