A Glasgow pub claims to possess the genuine Stone of Destiny, suggesting that the stone used in King Charles III's 2023 coronation was a replica. This assertion is examined in a new episode of the documentary series Weird Britain, airing on July 15 on Blaze TV.
The 1950 Heist and the Stone's Journey
The 152-kilogram block of Perthshire sandstone was stolen from Westminster Abbey by four Glasgow University students—Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson, and Alan Stuart—on Christmas morning 1950. Motivated by Scottish nationalism, the students prised the stone from the Coronation Chair. During the getaway, the stone broke in two, and the pieces were hidden with sympathisers. The largest police manhunt in Britain at the time failed to recover them.
According to the official account, the stone was later repaired by Glasgow stonemason and councillor Robert 'Bertie' Gray, left at Arbroath Abbey in April 1951, and then recovered by police and returned to London. It was given back to Scotland in 1996 and now resides at the Perth Museum. However, Gray is known to have made replicas, casting doubt on whether the original was ever returned.
The Arlington Bar's Claim
The Arlington Bar in Glasgow's west end has long maintained that the real Stone of Destiny was entrusted to the students during the heist and has remained there ever since. Manager Rory Watson said: "The people who stole it were Glasgow University students who popped into the Arlington with the Stone of Destiny for a quick pint on their way, and it's lived here ever since."
Watson added: "I think some people think it's real, some don't—we inherited it when we took over the pub two years ago. Who really knows—but we believe we've got the Stone of Destiny." The stone sits in a glass case inside the bar, and visitors can touch it. The pub also sells its own 'Stone of Destiny' lager and displayed a sign ahead of the 2023 coronation declaring the artefact "is staying here".
Implications for the Coronation
The documentary questions whether King Charles was crowned on a replica. Matt Everett of Dragonfly, the production company, said: "The question in the show is if the monarch sat on a substitute, does that make the coronation—and the King—any less legitimate in the eyes of ancient Scottish tradition?"
The Stone of Scone has been the symbolic seat of Scottish kingship for centuries. Edward I seized it from Scone Abbey in 1296 and placed it under the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey. Everett noted: "We know fakes were made and could the real stone be in the Arlington pub? ... If the stone King Charles sat upon really was one of Bertie Gray's replicas, does that make the coronation symbolically hollow for those who see it as the ultimate marker of Scottish sovereignty?"
The episode of Weird Britain airs on Wednesday, July 15, at 9pm on Blaze TV.
