Wisbech woman invites King to view her replica of Bayeux Tapestry

Up to 850,000 visitors are expected to see the original 70 metre artwork in the British Museum, while Mia Hansson, 52, from Wisbech, has been working away at her own version.

Mia began her work on July 13, 2016 and has been working at the rate of 6m (20ft) a year - hoping to finish by July 2027.

She began the project as she "wanted to be busy for a long time" and works on average between two to three hours a day on the tapestry.

Mia wrote to King Charles before he ascended to the throne offering to give him a private viewing at nearby Sandringham Estate - which she says he politely declined.

But with the original Bayeux Tapestry on display at the British Museum from September 10, 2026 to July 11, 2027, she hopes he might change his mind.

Mia said: "Before he became king, I wrote to him with an offer of when he was at Sandringham to give him a private viewing.

"He said that's very nice - thanks but no thanks.

"Perhaps now he will remember that letter. You never know."

Mia decided to begin her mammoth task in 2016 after needing a "big, long" project to work on.

She said she has tried to keep the tapestry as authentic to its original counterpart as possible - but does plan to add her own flair.

She said: "I will design and stitch the missing piece. The very end of tapestry as we see it today is damaged.

"I didn't want to do it because it meant doing the research and history to find out what happened.

"The end depicts the English fleeing and it is believed the last scene would have been William being crowned.

"It's up to me to find out, decide what to add, and how to add it.

"I can take the men from the tapestry and make them do the Olympic games or celebrate midsummer. To stitch it will be a piece of cake.

"Its been difficult because I'm a perfectionist but I also want things done my way.

"What I can't do anything about is the quality of the work and the decisions made in the 11th century because I'm a thousand years too late.

"I've set out to honour their work and I've shot myself in the foot over and over.

"The mistakes they've made, I've had to replicate those. If they had time to fix those mistakes, they would have. It is work against the grain of my soul.

Mia is working her way through scene 52 - depicting the early stages of the Battle of Hastings.

She said it was "dead easy" compared to other parts of the complex tapestry and was often working on blue and yellow horses in various states of falling over.

Mia explained: "For the first time in the battle there is not a person in chainmail. I hate chainmail with a passion - its tedious.

"I'm aiming to get as close as I can to the original with authenticity. They've made some mistakes and so have I.

"The images are very basic and stylistic - anything more elaborate I would make a dog's dinner out of it."

Mia, originally from Sweden, aims to finish her artwork on July 13, 2027 - marking 11 years exactly since she started.

If she's not able to complete by then, she is aiming for the reopening The Bayeux Museum in Normandy, France.

The museum is closing for renovations to reopen in October 2027 - coinciding with the millennium anniversary of William The Conqueror's birth.

Full-time carer Mia said: "I'm hoping it will go in some very rich person's house or museum.

"Whoever buys it, I honestly don't mind as long as its cared for.

"It'd be nice to go somewhere where I can point and say I did that.

"I chose the Bayeux tapestry because of its size. I wanted to be a busy for a long time.

"I calculated if I did five hours a day, it'd take ten years. I'm not a very good drawer."

Mia has tickets to see the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum but has already seen it in 2005 - after taking a wrong turn on holiday.

She has been open about being against the original's move from Normandy to London on the account of the extra handling required.

Mia added: "If I had been in charge, I wouldn't have let them bring it over.

"I think its too precious.

"It was the extra handling that worried me, it's been packed, unpacked and due to be packed up again to go back to France."

"Obviously I'd love to see it again.

"I don't even know what to look for. I know it so intimately.

"I'll just be there in the moment."