Macron ordered Bayeux tsar to move tapestry 'whatever the risk' Henry SamuelSeptember 28, 2025 at 1:00 AM 0 Around 150 people were involved in the initial stage of the move last week LOU BENOIST/AFP Emmanuel Macron said the risks of the Bayeux Tapestry falling apart in transit were worth taking, the...
- - Macron ordered Bayeux tsar to move tapestry 'whatever the risk'
Henry SamuelSeptember 28, 2025 at 1:00 AM
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Around 150 people were involved in the initial stage of the move last week - LOU BENOIST/AFP
Emmanuel Macron said the risks of the Bayeux Tapestry falling apart in transit were worth taking, the man in charge of the transfer has told The Telegraph.
The French president told his Bayeux tsar to push ahead with plans to loan the 11th-century embroidery to the British Museum, despite warnings that it is too fragile.
The tapestry was spirited out of the Bayeux Museum, where it had been housed since 1983, in the first stage of its journey to the UK last week.
It was taken to a secure storage room in the nearby Baron Gérard Museum before its trip across the Channel next year.
A copy of the work will be sent to Britain first, as part of a "dry run" to measure the risks.
The artefact, stitched nearly a millennium ago to commemorate William the Conqueror's victory at Hastings, is now at the centre of a Franco-British diplomatic dispute – and a furious cultural row.
The plans were announced by Mr Macron during his state visit to Britain in July.
Critics say Mr Macron has gambled with France's heritage for the sake of a symbolic gesture and that one dry run is not enough to test whether the real tapestry would survive unscathed.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Philippe Bélaval, charged with handling the loan on behalf of the Elysée, said Mr Macron was insistent the tapestry must make it to Britain, whatever the risk.
"He said 'just do it'," Mr Bélaval said, recalling the French president's blunt orders.
"He said it should be possible, we should respect the word given to the British people, and that we should ensure that everyone, or at least as many people as possible, understand the deeper meaning of this undertaking.
"He didn't need to say much because I was already convinced of the importance of this loan."
'Crime against heritage'
Mr Bélaval, 70, is now coordinating one of the most controversial cultural missions of Mr Macron's presidency. Nearly 75,000 people have signed a petition warning that moving the fragile work is a "crime against heritage".
"I, if you like, coordinate everything, ensure that the process runs smoothly, and, of course, keep the president informed of the project's progress," he said.
Indeed, that operation has already begun.
Last week, the artefact, which is 224ft long and has 58 scenes, was removed from the Bayeux Museum in a delicate manoeuvre that required around 150 people, including a delegation from the British Museum.
The tapestry will be transferred to the British Museum in 2026 - STEPHANE MAURICE/AFP
The move took more than seven hours and was conducted under discreet police protection.
Plain-clothes officers patrolled the streets in case of disruption, after the operation was delayed 24 hours because of nationwide strikes.
"We considered postponing the operation," said Mr Bélaval. "But we realised that it would take several weeks or even months to get them all back together again, which was no longer compatible with the loan.
"So on Thursday, we took the tapestry out of its display case, and on Friday, it was transported by lorry from the current museum to the place where it is being stored.
"Everything went smoothly, and in the end, we were able to stick to the original schedule."
He insisted the handling of the tapestry did not cause any damage to the artwork, which is riddled with 24,204 stains, 9,646 holes and 30 tears, and is held together by fraying linen threads.
The work has been moved into storage in a specially designed case - LOU BENOIST/AFP
For now, the work rests in a specially designed case, mounted on folding screens of two-metre panels and under the supervision of restorers.
To allay concerns over the move, a copy of the original 70-metre-long work will be dispatched to London in a specially built wooden crate fitted with vibration sensors and thermometers.
Mr Bélaval explained: "We've moved the tapestry to a storage facility but obviously the journey to London is longer and there's the question of crossing the Channel.
"A dry run will take place during the first quarter of 2026, when we will have the results of a study on how best to transport the tapestry and, above all, how to reduce or even eliminate vibrations, which have been identified as the main risk to the tapestry," he said.
Asked whether the mission would be aborted if the copy falls apart, he said: "I can't tell in advance. First, it has to take place, and then we will see what lessons we can draw from it. I think we will have enough time between the dry run and the real trip to make adjustments and modify the system."
Mr Bélaval has been charged with handling the loan on behalf of the Elysée - LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP
Such reassurances have failed to quell controversy over the loan.
Didier Rykner, editor of La Tribune de l'Art, who launched the petition against the transfer, criticised the "absurd reasoning" that if the tapestry can travel safely down the road, it can safely cross the Channel. It was, he said, "like saying that since someone climbed Montmartre, they're fit to scale Mont Blanc".
"I'm not reassured by this dry run in the slightest," he told the Telegraph.
"At present, there is no vibration-damping system directly applicable to the long-distance transport of the Bayeux Tapestry. I doubt very much that it can be done in three months. The tapestry is in serious danger. There is still time to put a stop to this madness and to sign the petition."
'Sense of omertà'
Critics view the insistence on moving the artefact against expert advice as a case of political heavy-handedness.
A recent video from the Calvados prefecture, in which a state heritage adviser declared the tapestry "too fragile to be moved over a long distance", has since been removed from YouTube. "There's a sense of omertà," said one professional close to the case.
Yet for Mr Bélaval, the risks are manageable. "There are a whole host of industries whose products are extremely sensitive to vibrations. I'm thinking of the space industry, including satellites and ships, and we manage to transport them just fine. So, I think we can find solutions to reassure everyone. We just needed to do the research," he said.
In short, if a man can be sent into space, France can send the tapestry to London, Mr Bélaval says.
The historical and political relevance of the loan means it is "a risk worth taking".
'A symbolic event'
"This tapestry was undoubtedly made in Great Britain, as you know, in Canterbury. It has never returned since it was transported to Normandy, so this is a symbolic event," he said.
"It clearly shows that France and Britain belong to the same historical space, the same intellectual space, and that at a time when Europe is seeking affirmation, an identity in the face of other powers, other parts of the world, I think that's particularly important."
For him, the tapestry is not only about Britain understanding its medieval past, but also about France rediscovering its own.
"It could help the French understand more about their own history and about Britain, which is deeply bound up with it," he said.
Mr Bélaval recalled the King's words during Mr Macron's state visit to Windsor Castle.
"I was very struck to hear His Majesty say in his speech that we should no longer talk about an entente cordiale, but now an entente amicale. The tapestry, the loan of the tapestry, is the first manifestation of this," he said.
"My mission is to ensure that the commitment signed by the French and UK governments in London in July is implemented.
"I can't predict the future. But I believe we can find solutions to reassure everyone."
Mr Macron announced that the tapestry would be loaned to the UK during his state visit - Carlos Jasso/Bloomberg
The British Museum will display the embroidery for 10 months from September 2026, before returning it to Normandy in 2027 – coinciding with the millennium of William the Conqueror. By then, Bayeux's new museum should be ready to house it permanently.
In return for the loan, Britain will lend France treasures including the Sutton Hoo collection, which has items taken from 6th and 7th-century Anglo-Saxon burial mounds, and the 12th-century Lewis Chessmen, which will go on display in museums in Normandy.
The embroidery has only twice left Bayeux before: in 1803, when Napoleon brought it to Paris, and in 1945, when it hung in the Louvre as homage to the troops who liberated the capital from the Nazis.
This time, Mr Bélaval said, it is "highly likely that the president will want to come" for the London opening.
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