Bayeux Tapestry tickets 'more sought after than Chelsea-Arsenal' says Burnham, as King and Macron visit British Museum

In an exclusive interview with The Standard, the Prime Minister stressed that tickets were “more sought after than Chelsea-Arsenal”.

They were joined by France’s first lady Brigitte Macron and Mr Burnham’s wife Marie-France van Heel.

“What a moment in history this is for London,” Mr Burnham told The Standard.

Andy Burnham delivers a speech during a preview event for the Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition, at the British Museum in London

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“A million people going to come through over the next nine months, and just think what this will mean for children.

“They will never forget this experience.”

The new Prime Minister added: “Someone was telling me downstairs...that the tickets for the Bayeux Tapestry are more sought after than Chelsea Arsenal.

“I don't think he's exaggerating. I think there's a lot of demand. A lot of people want to come and see this.”

France's President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron with King Charles and Queen Camilla as they attend a preview event for the Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition, at the British Museum

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The tapestry, which is made of linen with embroidered images of the Norman Conquest, arrived at the museum from France in July, marking its first return to Britain since it was created around 960 years ago.

The Royal party stopped at key moments along the 11th century artwork to hear from curators about historic events such as the coronation of Harold Godwinson and the much-disputed depiction of his death by an arrow to the eye at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

The tapestry will be on display at the British Museum from September until July next year, while its permanent home in Bayeux, Normandy, is renovated.

A section of The Bayeux Tapestry

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When general admission tickets went on sale last month, the museum recorded the single biggest day of ticket sales in its history, generating more than £2.4 million in sales in the first 24 hours.

The next wave of public tickets will go on sale on October 21 at 10am, and further tickets covering the final months of the exhibition will be released at a later date.

Claudia Winkleman stars in a new trailer for the Bayeux Tapestry

Mr Burnham praised London as the “centre of the cultural world”.

He stressed: “This just cements that, and that's the former Mayor of Greater Manchester speaking.

“It'll be a an amazing nine months for London.”

Addressing Mr Macron, he said: “I well remember our discussing this possibility during our state visit to France in 2023.

“It is a particular joy, therefore, to see the hope become reality.

“Indeed, it is thanks to the certainty you have always had – and which I very much share – that we are here this evening in order that the tapestry should be seen, in London, for the benefit of the peoples of both our countries: the best possible symbol of that ‘entente amicale’, of which we have both spoken so fondly.”

King Charles hailed Anglo-French relations in a speech at a preview event for the Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition, at the British Museum in London

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Addressing the Prime Minister, the French president said: “While we do not always see eye to eye, we respect one another, remain open to discussing everything, including advancing the UK reset with the European Union, always closer and together.

“And this is why I really do hope that the entente amicale he announced will inspire this new path forward.”

France's President Emmanuel Macron hailed the ‘entente amicale’

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The tapestry was “most likely to have been embroidered in Canterbury by English”, Charles said.

He then joked: “The Bayeux Tapestry – or the Canterbury embroidery as it might just have been called… recounts a conflict, yet here it is today, nearly a thousand years later, as a precious symbol of trust, at a time when trust seems sadly to be in short supply between nations.

“I cannot help but feel that its protagonists, on both sides of the Channel, would look with satisfaction on the Franco-British gathering here today, and be pleased that our two great nations, which share such fundamental values, have prospered together – across the tides of history.

“As Shakespeare said in The Tempest: “What is past is prologue.”

“We have defended our values together in times of peril. We continue do so today across the world.”