Protests and strikes planned for Thursday in France have forced a delay in the transfer to a secret location of the Bayeux Tapestry ahead of its historic planned loan to the UK next year, an official said.
French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to loan the medieval tapestry – which records the 1066 Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England – to the British Museum in 2026 to celebrate Franco-British relations.
After the museum where the tapestry is held in the town of Bayeux in Normandy closed for renovations, the tapestry was due to be removed Thursday to a secret location in France ahead of the loan.
"Due to the expected mobilisation tomorrow (Thursday)", the local authorities do not consider they are "able to ensure the security of such a high-profile transfer and ... of such an expensive work", said Philippe Bélaval, the French presidency's envoy for the British Museum loan.
Iconic Bayeux Tapestry goes to UK for first time in 900 years
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The location of the place where the tapestry is due to be kept safely ahead of the loan has not been revealed.
This transfer operation will take place "in the coming days", the envoy told AFP.
Critics have said the transfer to the UK risks causing damage to the priceless artefact. A petition posted online on change.org has called on Macron to stop a "true heritage crime".
Bélaval has previously defended the transfer, insisting that there is is no suggestion that the loan to the UK will damage the tapestry.
The tapestry's loan will mark the first time in its almost 1,000-year lifetime that the 68-metre-long piece, which dates from around 1077, will be on British soil.
Read moreFast facts on the Bayeux Tapestry
It will be loaned to the British Museum for 10 months from September 2026. French museums will in exchange be loaned ancient treasures mainly from the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo site, one of England's most important archaeological hoards.
France was on Thursday bracing for a day of nationwide disruption in a show of anger over Macron's budget policies.
Unions have vowed mass protests, public transport is set to be paralysed in places due to strikes while officials have warned of the possibility of extremists causing disturbances.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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