France's Bayeux Tapestry to return to Britain after 900 years

LONDON (Reuters) -France will lend Britain the Bayeux Tapestry, allowing the 11th century masterpiece to come back across the Channel for the first time in more than 900 years, in a show of friendship to mark President Emmanuel Macron's state visit.

King Charles welcomed Macron for a three-day trip on Tuesday, aimed at celebrating the return of closer ties between London and Paris after Brexit, with the loan of the tapestry a symbol of kinship between the neighbours.

Britain will in exchange loan France Anglo-Saxon and Viking treasures, in a deal to be announced by British culture minister Lisa Nandy and her French counterpart Rachida Dati later on Tuesday, a government statement said.

While the precise origins of the 70-metre long Bayeux tapestry are obscure, it is said to have been the work of English embroiderers, whose stitching tells the story of the Norman invasion in 1066, and most famously the arrow which hit England's King Harold in the eye.

In the years after William the Conquerer took the English throne, the tapestry was taken to France, where it has remained, displayed at the Bayeux Museum in Normandy since 1983.

"The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most important and unique cultural artefacts in the world, which illustrates the deep ties between Britain and France and has fascinated people across geographies and generations," British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan said.

The artwork will be shown at the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027, the statement said, while museums in Normandy, northern France, will host Britain's Sutton Hoo collection, consisting of metal artworks including helmets, shields and spoons from the seventh century.

The French will also borrow Britain's Lewis Chessmen, a collection of chess pieces thought to have been crafted in Norway in the 12th century and found on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland.

(Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)