Image source, Bayeux Museum

While visitors at the British Museum are journeying through the Bayeux Tapestry in person, we're retelling some of its key moments right here. In our previous post, we set the scene.

England's elderly king, Edward the Confessor, has died aged somewhere between 60 and 63 years old. England is now in mourning, and the future is unclear. This is what we know so far:

What we know

• Edward's death occurs at some point overnight between 4 and 5 January 1066, he is buried a day later at Westminster Abbey
• He is survived by his wife Edith Godwinson - the sister of Harold - and remembered by medieval monks as a "gentle and peaceable man"
• But Edward leaves no direct heirs to the throne

What we don’t know

• Who England's next king will be. Edward and Harold's hands are depicted touching on his deathbed in the Bayeux Tapestry, leading some to argue that Edward gave him the throne - but historians still debate this today

• What the various claimants to England's throne - Harold Godwinson, William of Normandy, and others - will do next

Katie Razzall
Culture editor

Image source, PA Media

I’ve been preparing for this exhibition for months.

I’ve read books and studied photographs of the tapestry. I was even lucky enough to witness the carefully choreographed unfurling from its case a few days after its arrival from France.

But nothing prepared me for how I felt when I looked down on it for the first time, stretching the full length of the gallery.

The first sight of it on display at the British Museum is from above, through a large opening on the mezzanine.

The lights are dim to protect it but the colours are still so vibrant. To see the nearly 70m (230ft) long medieval masterpiece laid flat, with all of it visible at the same time, probably for the first time in history, is overwhelming.

The 58 scenes embroidered on linen are an incredible undertaking, and I felt a powerful link with the embroiderers (most likely expert women in Canterbury or somewhere close by) who lived and worked on it nearly a millennium ago.

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

The queue has quickly disappeared outside the British Museum as the first set of visitors to the Bayeux Tapestry are moved towards security.

"Are you ready? Are you excited?" Shouted a member of staff from the museum.

Likely one of the first members of the public to see the tapestry displayed on British soil is Jenny. She arrived at 08:00 BST having travelled two hours on public transport to make sure she beat any queues and got a historic spot.

Jenny first saw the tapestry over 40 years ago in Bayeux but is excited to see it laid flat "without a curve in it". She is coming back in a couple of months to see the tapestry again.

Richard Sammuel, 59, is also among the first group seeing the tapestry. The Hastings resident is thrilled to "get to see it in such an exciting way".

He explains he also went to see the tapestry in Bayeux with his late father in the early 2000s. "There was no big fanfare," he says. Nothing like the camera and actors in medieval outfits here today.

Sammuel explains he's excited to see the tapestry in more detail and to see Hastings Castle - featured in it - in much better condition than it is today.

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

What does the tapestry show?

Think of it as a medieval comic strip showing events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the Norman conquest of England.

Famous scenes include the funeral of Edward the Confessor, whose death sparked a succession crisis, the building of ships as William of Normandy decides to attack England to claim the throne, and the death of King Harold Godwinson in battle.

Is it a tapestry?

No, technically it's an embroidery made of dyed wool stitched onto linen.

When was it made?

We don't know for sure, but many scholars believe it was made in or around Canterbury - probably by women. The British Museum notes that English women's needlework skills "were admired across Europe during this period".

It's widely believed to have been made in the years after the Battle of Hastings - with some suggesting it was commissioned by William's half-brother Bishop Odo.

Where is Bayeux?

Bayeux is a town in Normandy in north-western France. The embroidery is usually housed in a museum there, but it closed for refurbishment last September, providing the opportunity for the tapestry to travel to London on loan until July 2027.

How big is it?

Almost 70m (230ft) long and 50cm (20in) high, but with backing fabric increasing this to 70cm in some places.

As doors open to the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, visitors in costumes that resemble 11th Century fashion are flooding the British Museum's gates.

So far we've seen shields, helmets and (replica) weapons.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

While the first visitors at the British Museum are journeying through the Bayeux Tapestry in person, we're retelling some its key moments right here.

The story begins with one of the most famous Englishmen ever - Harold Godwinson.

He is the most powerful earl in England and the brother-in-law of Edward the Confessor, the elderly King of England.

Around the year 1064, Harold departs for France on an unspecified mission.

The Normans claim he has been sent to meet William, the Duke of Normandy, who has his own claim to the throne of England. But other sources believe he was on a rescue mission to recover family members held hostage by William.

After landing in France, Harold is quickly captured and handed over to William - but the pair appear to get along. Harold joins William on a military expedition in Brittany and is showered with armaments by the duke.

At Bayeux, he swears a sacred oath to William - or so the Normans say - supporting his claim to Edward's kingdom.

Image source, Bayeux Museum

Image source, PA Media

It's just gone 10:00 BST and the wait is over for excited ticket holders outside the British Museum.

Doors are now open and the first people are heading inside to see the Bayeux Tapestry, on display to the public in the UK for the first time since its creation nearly 1,000 years ago.

We're getting more pictures from outside the British Museum, where people are queuing up for the long-awaited Bayeux Tapestry exhibition.

Doors open imminently, at 10:00 BST.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

Image source, EPA

There's plenty of "brandter" outside the British Museum already as companies join in on the Bayeux Tapestry fun.

Two bikes have just turned up with large posters attached to the back showing Harold with an arrow in his eye.

"Should've goneth to Specsavers," it reads.

Nearby the Museum Tavern has been renamed the "The Beer Tapestry" by Greene King.

Diver Tom Daley has also been involved in stitching a specially commissioned “Baa-Ewe Tapestry” ahead of the release of the latest Shaun the Sheep film.

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

I think I've found the first person queuing for the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition. But it may be disputed.

Visitors have been arriving at the British Museum for a pre-opening tour, including Serena Smith.

Smith is making the most of the occasion by doing a tour inside the museum before she heads in to see the tapestry at 11:30 BST.

But she's hoping she may be able to squeeze in a little earlier.

Smith explains she was 4,000th in the queue for tickets despite clicking on a ticket link moments after receiving an email from the British Museum.

"Is today the first day?" she asks me. "I want you to write that I was first in the queue."

Armed with 24 pages of annotated notes, she's looking forward to trying to recognise the Normans from their round haircuts and seeing their boats on board the ships they use to reach the English shores.

Katie Razzall
Culture editor

Image source, Trustees of the British Museum/PA Wire

I was at the British Museum in July to witness the dead-of-night arrival of the tapestry under police guard.

It had travelled from Bayeux in Normandy through the Channel Tunnel and into central London, concertinaed into a specially designed case.

With strict rules imposed about minimal vibrations on the journey, there had been dummy runs to measure what might happen on the road (and as I cycled to the Museum that night, bumping and juddering over the potholes, I hoped that the medieval blockbuster really was safely cushioned against the worst that the British roads often deliver).

There was a welcoming party for the arrival; not just the director of the museum, but amongst others the French ambassador and the UK envoy who helped negotiate the loan and was sporting a Bayeux Tapestry tie.

There was a real sense of excitement and an understanding that - even though we wouldn’t actually see the tapestry out of its crate for some time - its arrival on British soil for the first time in nearly 1,000 years really was a moment to celebrate.

The British Museum is soon to open its doors and the first public visitors will be starting their journey back in time nearly 1,000 years, over 70m (230ft) of embroidery.

Along with them, we'll be retracing the story of the Bayeux Tapestry right here.

And crucially, it is a story. As we explored in our earlier post, there is still historical debate - and some controversy - around many of the events that the tapestry depicts.

A famous comet, medieval kebabs, a sacred oath and a certain arrow should all be on your medieval bingo card. Happy journeying.

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

I've turned up early to the British Museum to find the keenest Bayeux Tapestry fans in the land. But it's been a slow start.

Two hours before the first visitors will be let in there was absolutely no one outside. The security on the door at the museum look puzzled that I was anticipating some kind of Comic-Con setting.

Then a man with a Norman shield appears. A woman with swords and dragons from the tapestry handstiched into her dress is not far behind.

"We're weekend warriors," jokes Hannah Mounser, who has travelled from Norwich to perform to people queuing for the tapestry later on. She can't wait to bring the story to life.

The re-enactors recently took part in a battle scene inside the museum as part of a trailer for the exhibition featuring Claudia Winkleman.

Gintare Valasinite, another Saxon from Norwich, adds: "It's always such a joy to tell people about what you're doing.

"I'm a part time Viking, part time Saxon."

Bayeux Tapestry less significant to France than Englandpublished at 08:48 BST

08:48 BST

Hugh Schofield
Paris correspondent

A few months ago France was full of foreboding about the departure of the Bayeux Tapestry. The first time it was to leave French territory in nearly 1,000 years.

It was too valuable, said the experts. It was too risky. Those English potholes were going to play havoc with the fibres.

Funny how these media frenzies die.

Today… not a squeak. The tapestry has arrived in London, is going on display, and the “controversial” loan has suddenly become consensual.

Even the “two threads” damaged in transit barely got a mention in the French press.

The truth is that the tapestry features far less prominently in the national mindscape in France than in England.

Image source, Getty Images

In England, it is a record of perhaps the one date in history that people can still recite.

The Norman conquest, said Sellars and Yeatman in their hilarious 1066 and All That, was a “good thing” because from that time on “England stopped being conquered and thus was able to become top nation".

But for the French it has always been a regional treasure, one among many that the country can boast. Normandy was its home, and to Normandy it will return.

All of which suggests that Emmanuel Macron was right in his instinct to ignore the experts and just do it.

Of course the lofty way he managed the affair, sniffily dismissing the art world’s objections as so much special pleading, has not won him friends. But as a lame-duck president, that hardly matters.

What matters is that he’s pulled off cultural and diplomatic coup de force. They said it would never happen, but it did. And now no one in France appears to mind.

Katie Razzall
Culture editor

Image source, Getty Images

The British have been asking the French to loan the medieval artwork for the best part of a century.

David Musgrove, who co-wrote The Story of the Bayeux Tapestry, tells me the UK requested it in 1931, 1953, 1966, 1972 and 1980 to no avail.

It is now finally here in 2026 - and open to the public - though the original deal, between President Macron and PM Theresa May back in 2018, was apparently blown off course by the difficult post-Brexit relations between France and the UK in the Boris Johnson years.

Macron was determined for a reset and pushed the loan through under Keir Starmer’s premiership, against some pretty vocal opposition in France (including a petition calling it a "heritage crime").

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told me earlier this week it was “the most extraordinary act of friendship on behalf of the French government”.

1066 is a more significant date for the British than the French. I think Macron understood that - and it also accounts for much of the excitement and anticipation around what should be a blockbuster show.

Secrets of the Bayeux Tapestry is available on iPlayer from Thursday 10 September and will be shown on BBC Two at 21:00 on Monday 14 September.

Image source, Getty Images

The Bayeux Tapestry is history woven onto cloth. An embroidery almost 70m (230ft) in length and nearly 1,000 years old.

It tells the story of the events leading up to the Norman invasion of Britain and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

The battle saw William of Normandy take the English throne from Harold Godwinson, becoming the first Norman king of England.

Historical debate still abounds over some of the facts of the events depicted in the tapestry, which is believed to have been embroidered by English women for the new Norman rulers in the 1070s.

It includes 58 separate scenes, with 627 human figures, 737 animals, 37 ships and 23 trees, and a Latin narration accompanying the images.

The work is made up of wool thread - dyed using plants - then woven into linen cloth.

Great efforts were made to perfectly preserve the tapestry when bringing it to the UK, but it has not always had such careful owners.

It is believed the final scenes of the tapestry have been lost or destroyed - in the 18th Century, during the French Revolution, it was rescued from being cut up to make covers for soldiers' carts.

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

The wait is over for thousands of ticket holders who will finally able to see the Bayeux Tapestry in full display nearly 1,000 years after it was created.

Th epic medieval "comic strip" tells the story of the events leading up to 1066 and the Norman conquest in just under 70m (230ft). Prepare for a succession crisis, all-out war, and even a comet.

Making its way to the UK via an unprecedented loan from France to the British Museum, the tapestry has been on its own epic journey.

The special envoy for the tapestry, Peter Ricketts, tells me transferring the work was "completely unchartered territory" and moving it was like a choreographed ballet.

The embroidery - it's not technically a tapestry - had to be hung on a folding stand, packed into a climate-controlled crate and surrounded by shock-absorbing springs to help it avoid any damage on the drive over.

The ticket drop for the exhibition was the museum equivalent of the Glastonbury queue - and the exhibition is sold out until the end of 2026.

We'll be bringing you all the latest reaction on the opening day of the exhibition as well as a special glimpse into some of the most significant moments of the tapestry itself.