Treasury to insure Bayeux Tapestry for £800m while on loan to UK

This will cover the 70-metre tapestry, which depicts the 1066 Norman invasion and Battle of Hastings, for damage or loss during its transfer from France and while it is on display.

The Treasury will back the cover under the Government Indemnity Scheme – an alternative to commercial insurance that allows art and cultural objects to be shown in the UK.

The Financial Times reported the Treasury had provisionally approved an estimated valuation for the tapestry, which is more than 900 years old.

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The final valuation is expected to be around £800 million, according to the newspaper.

An HM Treasury spokesperson said: “The Government Indemnity Scheme is a long-standing scheme that allows museums and galleries to borrow high value works for major exhibitions, increasing visitor numbers and providing public benefits.

“Without this cover, public museums and galleries would face a substantial commercial insurance premium, which would be significantly less cost effective.”

The scheme is estimated to have saved UK museums and galleries £81 million compared to commercial insurance.

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the battle which saw William the Conqueror take the English throne from Harold Godwinson and become the first Norman king of England.

It will be on loan while the Bayeux Tapestry Museum in Normandy closes for renovation, with its reopening scheduled for October 2027.

It is part of a cultural exchange that will see the British Museum loan the Sutton Hoo collection, the Lewis Chessmen and other items to France in return for the tapestry.

In France, voices from the art and conservation fields have called on President Emmanuel Macron to abandon the project over concerns transportation would cause irreparable damage to the tapestry.