British Museum Director Apologises as Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition Battles Overcrowding and Two-Hour Queues

The director of the British Museum has issued a public apology after visitors to the institution's highly anticipated Bayeux Tapestry exhibition reported long waits, overcrowding and, in some cases, being denied entry despite holding tickets. Nicholas Cullinan told the BBC that anyone who had a poor experience deserved an apology and that the museum was committed to putting things right.

The exhibition, which opened in London in September, has drawn enormous crowds eager to see the 70-metre-long embroidery on its first return to British soil in more than 900 years. Demand has been so intense that 100,000 tickets were sold on the first day of release in July, a record for the museum. Next week, the exhibition is expected to welcome its 100,000th visitor, a figure Cullinan described as extraordinary for a run that is only three weeks old.

Despite that success, the museum has acknowledged that the visitor experience has not always matched the occasion. Some attendees reported waiting up to two hours to view the work. Last week, hundreds of ticket holders were reportedly turned away when the museum closed early for a private event, leaving many frustrated after travelling to the capital specifically for the exhibition.

Cullinan said the museum was taking the complaints seriously. "Anyone that doesn't have a good experience, we're really sorry about that and we want to put it right," he told the BBC's culture and media editor, Katie Razzall. He added that the museum's focus was on learning lessons and ensuring that everyone who comes to see the tapestry leaves satisfied.

In response to the problems, the British Museum has announced a series of changes designed to ease queues and improve the flow of visitors. These include extending opening hours, introducing an audio guide, providing additional seating and installing clearer signage throughout the exhibition space. The measures are intended to help visitors navigate the galleries more efficiently and to reduce the bottlenecks that have caused delays.

Cullinan rejected suggestions that the museum had oversold tickets. Instead, he attributed the congestion to the unexpected behaviour of visitors, who are spending far longer with the tapestry than the allocated 40-minute viewing slot. He explained that some people are so captivated by the work that they linger beyond their time, which in turn forces later groups to move through more quickly.

"The problem isn't just the interest, it's that people want to spend more time than anticipated," Cullinan said. "And that's a good thing. We want people to come and enjoy it, but it means we have to adjust accordingly and that's what we're doing." He noted that the museum had consulted the tapestry's home institution in Bayeux, Normandy, for advice on queue management and timings, drawing on the French museum's decades of experience displaying the work.

The museum has also been reimbursing visitors who were turned away, and Cullinan said compensation for travel costs was "a possibility", though he cautioned that mounting the exhibition has been incredibly expensive. Adult tickets in London cost £33 during peak times and £27 off-peak, compared with a €12 (£10) fee at the tapestry's permanent home in Bayeux. Children under 16 are admitted free.

Accessibility has emerged as another area of criticism. Cullinan said the museum had done everything it could, given the strict requirement that the tapestry be laid flat, a condition that makes it more difficult for wheelchair users to get a clear view. The constraint is understood to stem from conservation requirements attached to the loan, which limit how the fragile embroidery can be displayed.

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts 58 scenes chronicling the events surrounding the Norman conquest of England, the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the end of Anglo-Saxon rule. Despite its name, it is technically an embroidery rather than a tapestry, and it contains approximately 626 human figures and 200 horses. It has been on loan from the French government and is on display in London until July 2027.

The loan marks the first time the tapestry has returned to the UK since it was created more than 900 years ago. It normally resides in Normandy, where it has been exhibited since 1983. The sheer cultural significance of the object helps explain the intense public appetite, but it has also placed unprecedented pressure on the museum's ticketing and crowd-management systems.

For those who missed out on the initial release, there will be further opportunities. Additional tickets are scheduled to go on sale in October and January, giving members of the public who were unsuccessful in the first round two more chances to see the masterpiece. The museum will be hoping that by then, the operational changes now being introduced will have smoothed the experience for everyone.

The episode highlights the challenges major cultural institutions face when they secure a once-in-a-generation loan. Balancing conservation requirements, security, accessibility and public demand is a delicate task, and even well-resourced museums can struggle when an exhibition captures the public imagination on this scale. The British Museum's response in the coming weeks will be closely watched, both by visitors and by the wider museum sector.

Cullinan's apology and the swift introduction of practical measures suggest an institution aware that reputational damage can spread quickly in the age of social media, where accounts of long queues and turned-away ticket holders travel fast. With the exhibition set to run for nearly two more years, the museum has time to refine its approach and ensure that the historic homecoming of the Bayeux Tapestry is remembered for the right reasons.