Napoleon Bonaparte saw it as a propaganda tool to promote his planned invasion of Britain. The Nazis were fascinated by it. Now, the Bayeux Tapestry is to return to England after more than 900 years, a 70m-long symbol of the UK’s post-Brexit reconciliation with France.
When it arrives in London next year, it will star in what George Osborne, the former Conservative chancellor who is now the British Museum’s chair, has boasted will be “the blockbuster show of our generation”.
The tapestry tells the story of a defining moment in England’s history — the Norman invasion of 1066 — and is a gripping comic strip-style tale of ambition, betrayal, the horror of war and death. Subplots abound — is that really the vanquished King Harold with an arrow in his eye? — and so do the merchandising opportunities.