French letters

The Bayeux Tapestry is set to be displayed in the UK after France agreed it could leave its shores for the first time in 950 years. It’s set to be seen at the British Museum in London in 2022. This act of generosity should, of course, be reciprocated. An obvious gift to France is the ancient Egyptian artefact, the Rosetta Stone, currently on display at the same British Museum.

Found by the French in Egypt in 1799, the rosetta stone came under British possession after the defeat of the French in 1801 and has been on public display at the British Museum almost continuously since 1802, being the most-visited object there.

While the 70m Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events leading up to William of Normandy’s 1066 victory over Harold, king of England, at Hastings, the Rosetta Stone came to Britain as a result of the defeat of the French in 1801. This provides quite a neat linkage.

ALEX ORR

Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh

The Norman French invaded, conquered, settled and ruled England, transforming the very fabric of its society as they imposed a stratified, class-based structure on the Anglo-saxons. The splendid Bayeux Tapestry provides a graphic description of the Norman Conquest. In 1066 it was one in the eye for Harold, now it’s one in the eye for May.

Is Macron’s friendly gesture, with its subliminal message too subtle for the hapless PM?

JAMES STEVENSON

Drummond Avenue

Auchterarder

President Macron says “be my guest” to the UK’S wish for access to the EU single market, but then demands we contribute to their budget.

Is that typical of French hospitality to their guests?

JOHN BIRKETT

Horseleys Park St Andrews, Fife

I wonder if Boris Johnson will suggest we all use “Boris Bikes” to cross this new bridge he is planning from Britain to France, and shall we all wear berets and have onions strung around our necks?

JUDI MARTIN

Maryculter, Aberdeenshire