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The Stone of Destiny – an elongated block of sandstone – will stand under the coronation chair where King Charles will sit when he is officially inaugurated in 10 days.
Also known as the Stone of Scone, it has long been an ancient symbol of the Scottish and British monarchy, used since the 1300s for the investiture of kings and queens.
While the origin of the stone is unclear, some place it in biblical times and identify it as the Stone of Jacob, taken by Jacob from Bethel while on his way to Haran in the Middle East, as told in the Book of Genesis.
But one academic has poured cold water on this theory, arguing that it is “highly doubtful” that the one used at the coronation is the original from the Holy Land.
The relic is being moved in great secrecy from Edinburgh Castle to Westminster Abbey in the run-up to the coronation on May 6, amid fears of being hijacked.
The Stone of Destiny – an elongated block of sandstone – is located under the coronation chair where King Charles will sit when he is officially crowned on May 6.
In Stone we trust: The Stone of Destiny was returned to Scotland in a ceremony in November 1996 after being in England for the previous 700 years. He was placed in a modified Land Rover which was driven through the streets in front of spectators
Professor Ian Bradley, professor of cultural and spiritual history at the University of St Andrews, says the object is made from a type of sandstone that is ‘unknown’ in the Middle East but ‘relatively common’ around Scone in Perthshire.
Scone is the location where England’s King Edward I looted the stone (from Scone Abbey) in 1296 and brought it to London – and some think Edward was fobbed off with a forgery.
“Edward confiscated it as part of his effort to join the Scottish crown with that of England, thinking that the possession would make him the lawful king of Scotland and that any Scottish king subsequently elected would be a usurper and not properly crowned,” writes Professor Bradley. in the new issue of the Church of Scotland’s Life and Work magazine.
“The sandstone of which it is made is of a type relatively common in both Scone and Dunstaffnage, but unknown near Tara or in the Middle East.”
According to legend, the Stone of Destiny began life as the stone pillow Jacob slept on when he dreamed of the ladder that led to heaven, as described in Genesis 28:12-17.
According to various accounts, it made its way to Egypt and Spain and then to Ireland, where it was placed on Tara, the sacred hill on which the high kings of Ireland were crowned.
It somehow ended up in Scotland, where it is said to have passed from the colony of Dál Riata to Dunstaffnage Castle near Oban – and was moved to Scone in Perthshire around 840.
It was seized by Edward I’s troops from Scone during the English invasion of Scotland in 1296.
‘Before it was wiped out by the ‘Hammer of the Scots’, as Edward was called, it played a key role in the coronation of Scottish kings for at least 400 years,’ says Professor Bradley.
The Coronation Chair, containing the Stone of Destiny, also known as the Stone of Scone, in Westminster Abbey, London. The ancient symbol of the Scottish monarchy, a large rectangular block of sandstone weighing more than 150 kg, was seized in 1296 by Edward I of England
The Stone Of Destiny returned to Edinburgh in 1996 (pictured) in recognition of 700 years since it was taken by England’s King Edward I
According to the academic, the stone has been part of the coronation of every English sovereign since 1307, with the exception of Mary I and Mary II.
On Christmas Day in 1950, it was stolen by four young Scottish robbers who sneaked into Westminster Abbey through a side door.
But, unprepared for its weight – it weighed 24 stones – the activists dropped it and it broke in two when it hit the ground.
The stone was finally found safe on the altar at Arbroath Abbey, draped in a saltire, in April 1951.
It was returned to Westminster Abbey soon after, and when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953, it stood there under the coronation chair, just like her father before her.
Whether or not the sandstone slab under King Charles on May 6 is from the Middle East, Professor Bradley says it carries an “enormous weight of religious symbolism.”
He adds that we should “perhaps not let hard facts get in the way of legend and myth” as we begin our coronation celebrations.
“The Stone of Destiny symbolizes the sacred character and history of monarchy in the British Isles and illustrates the considerable effort made to relate it to Old Testament kingship and biblical narratives,” he says.
The Daily Mail’s original coverage of the stone’s theft reported how the border between Scotland and England was closed for the first time in 400 years
The historic Stone of Destiny will be moved from Edinburgh Castle for the coronation of King Charles III. Pictured here on display at Edinburgh Castle in the Crown Room, where it has been on display since its return in 1996
By order of the British government, the stone was officially returned to Scotland in 1996, in recognition of the 700th anniversary of its capture by Edward I.
In November it was driven from London to Scotland by both police and army vehicles before being paraded down the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle in front of a 10,000 strong crowd.
It has since been on display in the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle, although it is being transported to Westminster in time for the coronation, or has been transported very recently.
The exact timing of the carefully planned military operation to move it has been kept secret to avoid any risk of hijacking.
King Charles is said to have said he would have been perfectly happy if the Stone of Destiny remained in Scotland, but Downing Street insisted it travel south to Westminster Abbey.