King Charles and President Macron View the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum — Nearly 1,000 Years After It Last Stood on English Soil
King Charles delivered part of his speech in French, calling the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum "the best possible symbol" of the "entente amicale" between France and the United Kingdom, as he and Queen Camilla joined President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs Brigitte Macron for a private viewing on Wednesday evening (Hello!).
The tapestry — a near-70-metre embroidered cloth depicting the Battle of Hastings of 1066 — has returned to the UK for the first time in almost a millennium. It is on loan to the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027, displayed in The Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery (Room 30) under the exhibition title "The Bayeux Tapestry Presented by Igor Tulchinsky" (British Museum).
President Macron told guests that the tapestry's return "had required a little patience," noting that the first British request dated back to 1931. A historic loan agreement was signed to make the display possible (Hello!; British Museum). The British Museum's closure for refurbishment in September 2025 created the window for the tapestry to travel (British Museum).
The phrase Charles chose — "entente amicale" — is one he has used before. He first deployed it at a Windsor Castle banquet in July 2025, when the Macrons were hosted for a state visit, recasting the traditional diplomatic label "entente cordiale" (the 1904 understanding between Britain and France) in warmer terms (Hello!).
The Macrons' two-day visit to the UK in September 2026 is aimed at fostering closer ties between the two countries (CNN). Before the museum viewing, Charles and Camilla welcomed the Macrons for afternoon tea at Clarence House, the King's London residence. The Court Circular — the daily official record of royal engagements published on royal.uk — records that Macron visited the King and Queen and remained to tea, and that evening viewed the Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, London (royal.uk Court Circular; Hello!).
The Royal Family's official website carried the event under the headline "The King and Queen, joined by the President of France and Mrs Macron, view the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum," published on 3 September 2026 (royal.uk). The viewing was announced as part of the King and Queen's Autumn Tour (royal.uk).
As the two couples descended the steps of the British Museum after the private viewing, Queen Camilla held Brigitte Macron's hand. Both women wore white: Camilla in a dress by designer Anna Valentine, Mrs Macron in a structured midi dress (Hello!). A pool photograph by Adrian Dennis, distributed via Reuters, captured Charles and Camilla viewing the exhibition (Reuters).
For the public, the exhibition is open across the loan period. General admission tickets went on sale from 1 July. The next ticket release is scheduled for 21 October 2026, with members' priority booking reopening on 6 October (British Museum).
The last time an object recording a French-speaking duke's conquest of England stood on English soil, the deed itself was still living memory. Now it sits behind glass on Great Russell Street, on loan, with a French president and a British king standing before it.
