From the DCMS Blog #freemuseums10  

If you’re soaking up the culture of an overseas city, alongside enjoying a good meal and perhaps visiting a show, you might decide to drop into a national museum. More often than not, the first things that’ll greet you are a queue for a cashier’s desk, a set of turnstiles and a large tariff sign. ?10 at the Louvre. $25 at the Met in New York. ?12.50 at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. $19 at the American Museum of Natural History. In the UK, entry to our permanent, national collections is free of charge. So, although you might see the odd queue (as anyone who has braved the Natural History Museum in half-term can attest), the cashier will be much less a feature of your visit: here, you can see some of the world’s greatest treasures without putting your hand in your pocket. This day, ten years ago, saw the introduction of the policy...