Bayeux Tapestry's London Debut After 950 Years

0:00On March 15, the Bayou tapestry, a 1,000-year-old embroidery depicting the Norman Conquest, is making its first trip to London in 9. 150 years? The 70-meter-long artifact will leave its home in Bayou, France for a 10-month exhibition at the British Museum starting this September. To ensure safe passage, the British Museum is footing a 1.2 million-pound bill for a nighttime Eurostar journey through the Channel Tunnel. The tapestry gets its own train, police escorts on both sides of the border, and specially controlled speeds to minimize vibrations with test runs, happening now. Critics like artist David Hockney have slammed the plan as madness and a vanity effort, but museum leaders predict massive crowds, 750. Thousands to 1 million visitors, rivaling past hits like Tutankham's treasures. This loan stems from a 2018 idea between leaders that gained steam last year, announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in July. In exchange, Britten sends Anglo-Saxon fines from Sudden Who and the Lewis Chessmen to Normandy museums.

1:06Right now, the tapestry sits in a secure French crate, set for hand-off mid-channel before a police escorted drive to London. There, a 600,000-pound display case in a dark room will hold it flat under constant watch until it heads home in 2027.