Just when they seemed to be getting on much better thanks to the formation of the “coalition of the willing”, in their united front against Vladimir Putin, a centuries old spat seems to be on the boil again between Britain – well actually England – and France.
No, not about fishing rights or sending back the migrants but about the Bayeux Tapestry, that 200ft wool-on-linen work of art, which heralds the start of the Norman Conquest and the beginning of the end of Anglo-Saxon England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. According to experts it was almost certainly made by Kentish embroiderers and is now generally recognised as one of the wonders of the medieval world.
In what can only be described as a fit of generosity, rather than the more normal pique between the two countries, President Emmanuel Macron decided – unilaterally, it seems – to lend the tapestry to the British Museum in London next year. This is a decision that has been widely welcomed on this side of the Channel but which is beginning to cause consternation over there.
So much so that a petition to call a halt to what many French men and women regard as a cultural outrage has begun and more than 60,000 have already said a resounding “Non” to the plan and denounced their president’s gift as a political gimmick.
From this distance I am bound to say that I agree with them wholeheartedly.
Just when they seemed to be getting on much better thanks to the formation of the “coalition of the willing”, in their united front against Vladimir Putin, a centuries old spat seems to be on the boil again between Britain – well actually England – and France.
No, not about fishing rights or sending back the migrants but about the Bayeux Tapestry, that 200ft wool-on-linen work of art, which heralds the start of the Norman Conquest and the beginning of the end of Anglo-Saxon England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. According to experts it was almost certainly made by Kentish embroiderers and is now generally recognised as one of the wonders of the medieval world.
In what can only be described as a fit of generosity, rather than the more normal pique between the two countries, President Emmanuel Macron decided – unilaterally, it seems – to lend the tapestry to the British Museum in London next year. This is a decision that has been widely welcomed on this side of the Channel but which is beginning to cause consternation over there.
So much so that a petition to call a halt to what many French men and women regard as a cultural outrage has begun and more than 60,000 have already said a resounding “Non” to the plan and denounced their president’s gift as a political gimmick.
From this distance I am bound to say that I agree with them wholeheartedly.