Image: Screenshot of an X post by George Osborne (@George_Osborne)
Macron praised cultural exchanges for lack of “trade war or tariffs” at British Museum during event at British Museum
French President Emmanuel Macron has said the exchange of significant museum objects between France and the UK marks a new era for global politics.
On Tuesday the government announced that the Bayeux Tapestry is to go on display at the British Museum, while Sutton Hoo treasures and the Lewis chessmen are loaned to France in return.
900 years later: Bayeux Tapestry to go on UK display in loan swap
Yesterday the British Museum was closed for an event which saw the Prime Minister and President Macron formalise the agreement.
In a speech at the event, Macron said cultural exchanges come without “trade war or tariffs, and there is no new imperialism… because there is no border by definition.”
The exchange, he said, was a chance to “finish the tapestry”, and “create a new era based on culture, knowledge, respect, science and centuries of enlightenment creations, and friendship”.
“Being in a museum is never something innocent, it’s always being exposed not just your culture but the whole world, even from ancient times. This is a clear relationship with universalism,” he said.
Great to welcome President Macron and Prime Minister Starmer and their spouses @britishmuseum – the deal is done and the Bayeux tapestry is coming next year. Can’t wait. pic.twitter.com/5S6ErCVAgy
— George Osborne (@George_Osborne) July 9, 2025
The French President noted the British Museum’s multi-year Western Range redevelopment programme, and said a similar transformation was underway at the Louvre. Both projects, he said, would inspire each other to give visitors “a better understanding of art, invention and human culture.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer also delivered a speech at the event. He said the cultural exchange and resulting 2026 exhibition at the British Museum will “bring us together, to remind us of our shared history, but also the common bonds that ensure across languages, borders and cultures.”
“We are now entering a new era of world history”, in which alliances between countries with shared values are “more important than ever”, the PM said, noting the two country’s work in a ‘coalition of the willing’ made after the invasion of Ukraine.
Macron said the exchange had been years in the making, and France was initially hesitant to move the tapestry.
He said: “I must confess, we did our best not to be put in a situation to make this loan of the Bayeux Tapestry. We found the experts in the world to explain in perfect detail, why it was totally impossible to make this loan.
“Believe me we found them, and believe me we are going to find them again”, he joked.
But he said minds were changed when the loan became a broader cultural exchange between the two countries.
For the first time in 900 years, the Bayeux Tapestry is coming back to the UK.
It was an honour to sign an historic agreement today with @datirachida at the @BritishMuseum — a symbol of the deep cultural ties between the UK and France.
🇬🇧🤝🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/w6GJorn5Jz
— Lisa Nandy MP (@lisanandy) July 9, 2025
The museum’s Chair George Osborne said in his speech that its 2026 Bayeux Tapesry would be the “blockbuster show of our generation”.
He said “There is no single object in our long history that is as famous, as studied in schools, as copied by artists, as instantly recognised as the Bayeux Tapestry.
He concluded by saying the mutual loan should “serve as a model to others”, and congratulated the PM and President on “bringing sanity and fraternity back to the relationship between our two great nations”.
