King Charles could be crowned on the wrong Stone of Destiny next year, according to the boss of a pub said to house the real one. David Low, who owns The Arlington in Glasgow, spoke out after last week’s death of lawyer Ian Hamilton at the age of 97.
He had led a gang of four Glasgow University students and nationalists who took the stone from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1950. It’s claimed the stone they dumped four months later at Arbroath Abbey is a replica while the real one was left at The Arlington, a pub in the city’s Woodlands Road where the group were regulars.
David, 64, said: “We believe that we have the real one. However, now Ian Hamilton is dead, no one can say for certain. It will remain a mystery for another 1000 years.”
Police recovered the stone from Arbroath and returned it to London but claims later emerged that the real stone was left in The Arlington, which the four had visited in the days after the theft.
David, who helped broker the takeover of Celtic FC by Fergus McCann in 1994, said Ian will take the secret of what happened to the stone to his grave.
He said: “One of the reasons I bought the pub last year was because of that fantastic history. All four students who stole the stone from Westminster Abbey were Arlington regulars at the time.
“It has always been rumoured that the stone left at Arbroath Abbey was not the stone that was stolen from Westminster Abbey. In other words, they returned a replica and the stolen version is in The Arlington.”
That stone is set in a glass case in the pub with a plaque and inscription. It has its own seat. Customers can also buy the pub’s Stone of Destiny lager. David, chairman of the Three Thistles pub group, is planning a YouTube documentary on the stone’s link to The Arlington. He also wants to auction his stone for charity at the time of King Charles’s coronation next year.
The Stone of Destiny, also called the Stone of Scone, is on permanent loan to Edinburgh Castle and is expected to be returned to London for the ceremony. The original was the seat upon which ancient kings of Scotland were crowned and became a symbol of independence.
It was taken by England’s Edward I in 1296 and moved to Westminster Abbey as a spoil of war. It was last used at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Ian had been the last member of the nationalist gang that included Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart.
David said: “We will not be releasing our stone for any coronation. It is impossible to say what is the real one. Nothing can be proved one way or the other, particularly now that Ian is dead.”
David’s brother Kenny, who helps run the pub, said the stone draws customers, adding: “We get tourists in every day to see it. People are interested in the mythology and the history, particularly with the coronation coming up.”
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