The Bayeux Tapestry has arrived in London to be shown off in a blockbuster exhibition at the British Museum.
Under police escort from a secret base in northern France, it was driven into a loading bay at the central London museum at 2.50am.
The crate, encased in an aluminium frame, was lowered out of the lorry in front of a select crowd including the French ambassador to the UK and the director of the British Museum, the BBC reports.
It is the first time the legendary cloth has been in the UK since it was created in the country nearly 1,000 years ago.
Around 7.5 million people are expected to see the 70-metre tapestry in London when it goes on show from September to July 2027.
The 70-metre embroidery will be exhibited at the British Museum from September to July 2027.
The tapestry depicts the 1066 Norman invasion and Battle of Hastings, which saw William the Conqueror take the English throne from King Harold and become the first Norman king of England.
It has been on display at the Bayeux Tapestry Museum in Bayeux in Normandy since 1983 and will return there when the museum opens after renovation.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum shows what the two countries “can achieve when they join forces”.
Writing in The Times, Mr Macron said the loan was a “tangible expression of long-standing friendship and a sign of our shared desire to see France and the United Kingdom build their future together”.
He said the two nations recognise what sets each other apart, but also “their natural affinity and what they can achieve when they join forces”.
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“This is what our partnership must continue to embody,” he said. “The UK is a strategic partner, ally and friend of France.
“Faced with the major challenges of our time – the security of our continent, technological sovereignty, innovation, energy and decarbonisation, and the resilience of our democracies – we have chosen to act together.”
“The Bayeux Tapestry is an unfinished story. Its conclusion eludes us; its final scene does not bring the story to a close.
“Perhaps that is where its most contemporary strength lies. It is our job to write the next chapter, in a spirit of respect, trust and renewed alliance.”