The Latest Breaking News from the British Museum

British Museum to host an exclusive fundraising ball on 18 October 2025, aiming to match the scale of the Met Gala.

On Sept. 27, 1822, French philologist Jean-François Champollion announced that he had deciphered ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, using the Rosetta stone. This ushered in a new craze for Egyptology and helped us understand one of the world's longest-running civilizations.

Britain appears to be a nation on the verge of Norman-conquest mania. In July, the prime minister and the French president announced that the Bayeux tapestry – the epic 11th-century embroidery that depicts the 1066 conquest of England – would be loaned to the British Museum in 2026-27.

Museum’s basement becomes £2m ‘kunstkammer’ full of Schroder family’s exquisite silverware, paintings, bronzes and ceramics

It is part of a cultural exchange announced by French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer when they met in July.

More than 64,000 people have signed a petition calling on Emmanuel Macron to revoke the loan of a 1,000-year-old tapestry to London

Organiser of petition says French president ignoring expert advice that artefact too fragile to be transported to UK

The restaurateur shares where he had his best meal of the year, plus his most iconic Londoner, and where he finds calm in the city

A French petition opposing the planned loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum has drawn nearly 45,000 signatures since its launch on 13 July, amid warnings the 11th‑century work is too fragile to move.