For more than seven hundred years, British monarchs have sat on a large block of rectangular sandstone during their coronations. This block of stone, called the Stone of Scone, or the Stone of Destiny, however, did not belong to them. It originally belonged to the Scottish people who used it during coronation of their own monarchs. In 1296, King Edward I of England invaded Scotland and stole the Stone of Scone, taking it away to Westminster Abbey, and had it fitted underneath the Coronation Chair “as a scornful symbol of Scotland's subservience to England.” Ever since then, the stone's theft has been a thorn in the side of Scottish nationalists, symbolizing England's arrogance and a deep embarrassment for Scotland at the loss of a sacred relic.
A replica of the Stone of Scone in front of the Scone Palace. Credit: PaulT/Wikimedia
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