Two broken threads have been discovered in the Bayeux Tapestry after its journey from France to Britain, the French culture minister has said, although it was not significantly damaged.
Officials insist the damage is minimal and the historic tapestry is more or less “in the same condition upon arriving in London as it was before leaving Bayeux”, Catherine Pégard said in an interview on Friday, just days before the artefact is due to go on show in the British Museum in a monumental moment.
“A break of two threads out of 70 metres of tapestry was reported,” she told RTL France, adding “it was examined with particular attention.”
She continued: “It took a long time because the experts examined it centimetre by centimetre. So I can tell you today that if we say it is in the same condition upon arriving in London as it was before leaving Bayeux, I don’t think we are very wrong.”
Concerns were raised earlier this year by the late artist David Hockney who warned that sudden changes in temperature, humidity or light exposure, could lead to fibre contraction or expansion or colour fading.
He warned that because the tapestry was backed on fragile linen, any movement of the relic’s wool embroidery threads puts it in danger of “tearing, stitch loss and distortion of the fabric”.
A British Museum spokesperson said: “The British Museum received the draft of condition report B this week. This report compares the Tapestry’s condition upon its arrival in London in July 2026 with photographs taken in September 2025, before it was taken off display in Bayeux.
“The report is not yet final and is still to be agreed by both French and British Museum conservation teams who carried out the condition check together. We can confirm though that from initial reading of the report it strongly suggests the Tapestry’s condition is virtually unchanged.”
The Bayeux Tapestry arrived in London in July following a high-tech, tight-security operation where it was folded accordion-style in a climate-controlled case placed inside a shock-absorbing cradle.
It marked the first time the historic portrait of the Battle of Hastings has touched British Soil in nearly 1,000 years.
The tapestry will be on display at the museum from Thursday (10 September) until 11 July next year. Prime minister Andy Burnham, French president Emmanuel Macron, and the King and Queen marked the occasion on Wednesday with a special viewing of the tapestry at the British Museum.
Earlier this summer the British Museum reported record-breaking ticket sales to see the artefact with the online queue peaking at over 80,000 customers at one point.
The website saw 4.7 times its average daily traffic as hundreds of thousands of people tried to access it across the day, joining a queue that at one point stretched over nine hours.
Over £2.5 million was generated through worth of ticket sales, the museum reported, more in one day than any other exhibition ever held.
