Bayeux tapestry to be insured for £800m for British Museum exhibition

Workers and volunteers at the Bayeux Tapestry Museum in Bayeux rest before preparing to pack the tapestry for its transfer to the British Museum. Photograph: Lou Benoist/AP

The Bayeux tapestry will be insured for an estimated £800m when it returns to the UK in 2026 for the first time in more than 900 years.

The Treasury will insure the 70-metre embroidered cloth, 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 at the British Museum from September.