The coronation of King Charles III will, like that of his mother Queen Elizabeth II 70 years ago, feature a historic block of stone with immense symbolic significance - especially to Scotland.
So much so, it was once 'stolen' from Westminster Cathedral by University of Glasgow students who were determined it should be returned to Scotland. The Stone of Destiny - also known as the Stone of Scone or the Coronation Stone - was a sacred ancient symbol of Scotland’s monarchy.
Some Scottish legends say the block of rock is actually the biblical Stone of Jacob from the Book of Genesis. According to the Old testament, Jacob was using the stone as pillow a when he had his famous vision of a stairway leading to heaven, which became known as Jacob's Ladder.
Legends have it that the Stone of Jacob was brought to Ireland, via Egypt and Spain, either by the prophet Jeremiah or a Pharaoh's daughter. It was then reputedly taken to Scotland by Fergus, the legendary first King of the Scots, in around 500 AD.
It's believed the stone spent its first few hundred years in Scotland in Argyll and on the Isle of Iona - the symbolic centre of Scottish Christianity and the burial place of 48 Scottish kings, eight Norwegian Kings and four Irish Kings. In 841 AD it was brought to the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth.
The red sandstone block was used for centuries in the inauguration of Scotland's kings - until King Edward I seized the stone from the Scots In 1296 during the First Scottish War of Independence. Edward 'Longshanks' had it built into a new throne at Westminster. Since then, it has been used in the coronation ceremonies of all the monarchs of England and then the United Kingdom.
It was finally officially returned to Scotland a quarter of a century ago . However, it was unofficially returned to Scotland by nationalist students in the 1950s, who audaciously 'liberated' it from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day in 1950.
It will now return to London for the coronation of King Charles III, in line with an agreement with the people of Scotland. The stone will be transported from its present home in Edinburgh Castle to the Abbey in London in time for the ceremonial crowning of the new monarch.
The last time it was used for such a function was in 1953, for the crowning of the new king's mother, who died on Thursday in Balmoral, Scotland.
Historic Environment Scotland this weekend confirmed that the historic stone would make the 500-mile journey, heading south for a third time. A spokesman said the Stone of Destiny would go to the Abbey ready for the coronation and then it would be returned to Scotland, where it is usually on display in the castle's Crown Room, along with other historic items.
The coarse-grained, pinkish buff sandstone was returned to Scotland on St Andrew’s Day in November 1996 after years of campaigning – and one audacious theft. On Christmas Day in 1950, four Scottish students took the stone and three months later it turned up at the altar of Arbroath Abbey. Once the police found out about it, the stone was returned to Westminster.
The story of the theft of the Stone of Destiny by Glasgow University students was made into a film in 2008 starring Charlie Cox, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle and Kate Mara.
However, in 1996, the Government in London decided officially to return the stone to Scotland, when not in use at coronations, and it was moved north, to Edinburgh Castle. In 2020, Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister, announced plans to relocate the stone, also known as the Stone of Scone, to Perth, where it was first installed at the abbey there around AD841.
The date has yet to has yet to be announced for the King's coronation.
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