What can an 11th-century comic strip about the Norman Conquest of England tell us about the spectre of sea change in 2026 Europe? France’s president is on hand for the hottest ticket in London, the first-ever cross-Channel visit of the Bayeux Tapestry, which, for the record, is not a tapestry but a delicate scroll of embroidered cloth that chronicles a radical turning point in our continent’s history. Should France’s outgoing president and the British monarch who welcomes him be likened more to the defending Saxons or the invading Normans?
Fast forward to the present and Europe has got plenty of ramparts to man, sandwiched between a hostile Russia and a withdrawing United States. How fast can Emmanuel Macron and new Prime Minister Andy Burnham level up to spearhead an alternative to an unravelling NATO? They're already leading a coalition of the willing for Ukraine.
