Boy King: Tutankhamun ruled Egypt as pharaoh for ten years until his deathIt was hailed as the world’s first blockbuster exhibition.When treasures from the tomb of King Tutankhamun first went on display at the British Museum more than 40 years ago, people queued for up to eight hours to catch a glimpse of the astonishing artefacts.But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the 1972 show, which attracted a total of 1.7 million visitors, was almost scrapped due to scheming French diplomats, who sparked a bizarre row between Britain and Egypt.British Museum papers show how the French attempted to stymie sensitive negotiations to borrow the priceless 3,000-year-old treasures, including the Boy King’s death mask, by urging Egyptian dictator Gamal Nasser to make extravagant conditions for his co-operation. Huge interest: When treasures from the tomb of King Tutankhamun first went on display at the British Museum in 1972, people queued for up to eight hours to catch a glimpse of the artefacts

Astonishing: The 1972 show, which attracted a total of 1.7 million visitors, was almost scrapped due to scheming French diplomats, who sparked a bizarre row between Britain and EgyptAmong the demands Nasser made during talks, which began in 1966, were for him to be photographed by society favourite Lord Snowdon – husband of Princess Margaret – and for superstars Dame Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev to perform in Cairo alongside members of the Royal Ballet. Paris was determined to stall the London exhibition over fears that it would overshadow the Louvre’s own Tutankhamun show, which eventually took place in 1967.The papers show that talks collapsed on more than one occasion because of the demands.In one undated memo, Iorwerth Edwards, the British Museum’s Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities, said: ‘I went to Cairo in February and the discussions proceeded very satisfactorily until my last morning when [Egyptian culture minister] Dr Magi Wahba told me that in addition to the Royal Ballet, the Egyptian government wanted the Oxford Playhouse Company and Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev.

Queuing: British Museum papers show how the French tried to stymie sensitive negotiations to borrow the priceless 3,000-year-old treasures, including the Boy King’s death mask Royal visit: The Queen looks at one of the two life sized statues of Tutankhamun in 1972, which stood on each side of the sealed entrance to the burial chamber in the tomb 3,000 years ago‘When I returned to London, I reported the revised demand to the Arts Council, who consulted the British Council and the Foreign Office with the result that the whole scheme was dropped…‘Shortly afterwardsnorth face oso hoodie colors, we learnt privately that the change in the Egyptian attitude was the outcome of diplomatic pressure on Nasser by the French because they wanted to be the only country in Europe to have the exhibition.’The documents also show that the museum’s attempts to appease Nasser were blocked by the Foreign Office, which did not want to engage with the dictator at a time when Anglo-Egyptian relations were still at a low ebb following the 1956 Suez Crisis.hoodie ovoxo

Treasures: The show was far more lavish than the earlier French exhibition, and had to be extended on several occasions due to public demand Excitement: Peter Rivas (left) and Vernon Brewer (right) hold a hot drink as they sit at the front of the queue for the Tutankhamen exhibition at the British Museum in 1972Nasser’s death in 1970 and a tour of Egypt by the Royal Ballet – without Fonteyn or Nureyev – finally paved the way for the exhibition to take place in London.The show was far more lavish than the earlier French exhibitioncheap duffer hoodies, and had to be extended on several occasions due to public demand.wholesale hoodies with thumb holesThe news of the row comes as ITV screens a new drama at 9pm tonight about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. The show stars Max Irons as archaeologist Howard Carter and Sam Neill as his financial backer, Lord Carnarvon.

ITV’s new Tutankhamun drama, starting tonight, has sparked controversy by ‘sexing up’ the relationship between Howard Carter (Max Irons) and Lord Carnarvon’s teenage daughter, Lady Evelyn (Amy Wren).As our pictures, below, show, the pair share a passionate kiss in the second episode, to be screened next week.But the current Lord Carnarvon insists they were not romantically linked and the ‘lust in the dust’ never happened. ITV’s new Tutankhamun drama has sparked controversy by ‘sexing up’ the relationship between Howard Carter  and Lord Carnarvon’s teenage daughter, Lady Evelyn Romantic link: The pair, played by Amy Wren and Max Irons, share a passionate kiss in the second episode, to be screened next weekThe golden mask of Tutankhamun (pictured) has been permanently damaged after its 'beard' was stuck on with epoxyThe blue and gold braided beard on the burial mask of famed pharaoh Tutankhamun was hastily glued back on with the wrong adhesive, damaging the relic after it was knocked during cleaning.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, where the burial mask is kept, is one of the city's main tourist sites, but in some areas, ancient wooden sarcophagi lay unprotected from the public, while pharaonic burial shrouds mounted on walls crumble behind open glass cases.Tutankhamun's mask, over 3,300 years old, and other contents of his tomb are the museum's top exhibits.Three of the museum's curators reached by telephone gave differing accounts of when the incident occurred last year. They also could not agree whether the beard was knocked off by accident while the mask's case was being cleaned or if was removed because it was loose.They did agree, however, that orders came from above to fix it quickly and that an inappropriate adhesive was used.All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisals.'Unfortunately he used a very irreversible material - epoxy has a very high property for attaching and is used on metal or stone but I think it wasn't suitable for an outstanding object like Tutankhamun's golden mask,' one curator said.'The mask should have been taken to the conservation lab but they were in a rush to get it displayed quickly again and used this quick drying

, irreversible material,' they added.The curator said that the mask now shows a gap between the face and the beard, whereas before it was directly attached: 'Now you can see a layer of transparent yellow.'Another museum curator, who was present at the time of the repair, said that epoxy had dried on the face of the boy king's mask and that a colleague used a spatula to remove itThe first curator, who inspects the artifact regularly, confirmed the scratches and said it was clear that they had been made by a tool used to scrape off the epoxy.Egypt's tourist industry, once a pillar of the economy, has yet to recover from three years of tumult following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.Museums and the opening of new tombs are part of plans to revive the industry.But authorities have made no significant improvements to the Egyptian Museum since its construction in 1902, and plans to move the Tutankhamun exhibit to its new home in the Grand Egyptian Museum scheduled to open in 2018 have yet to be divulged.

The burial mask is kept in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (pictured), which is one of the city's main tourist sitesNeither the Antiquities Ministry nor the museum administration could be reached for comment Wednesday evening. One of the curators said an investigation was underway and that a meeting had been held on the subject earlier in the day.The burial mask, discovered by British archeologists Howard Carter and George Herbert in 1922, triggered worldwide interest in archaeology and ancient Egypt when it was unearthed along with Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb.'From the photos circulating among restorers I can see that the mask has been repaired, but you can't tell with what,' Egyptologist Tom Hardwick said. 'Everything of that age needs a bit more attention, so such a repair will be highly scrutinized.' The mummified and embalmed face of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, pictured on display in a climate controlled case in his tomb at the Valley of the KingsTutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled from 1332BC - 1323BC after taking the throne at the age of nine or ten.