A new documentary claims that the Stone of Destiny upon which King Charles III was crowned in 2023 is a fake, and the genuine artefact resides in a Glasgow pub. The programme, part of the series Weird Britain, will air on Blaze TV on Wednesday, July 15, at 9pm, investigating the enduring mystery surrounding the legendary stone.
The 1950 Heist and the Arlington Connection
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 in 1950, motivated by Scottish nationalist sentiment. During their getaway, the stone broke into two pieces, and the largest police manhunt in Britain at the time failed to recover them. The students allegedly stopped for a pint at The Arlington pub in Glasgow, where the stone is claimed to have remained ever since.
According to the official account, the stone was later repaired by stonemason and councillor Robert 'Bertie' Gray in Glasgow, 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 produced replicas, casting doubt on whether the original was ever returned.
Pub's Claim and Public Reaction
Manager of The Arlington, Rory Watson, stated: "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. 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 pub displays the stone in a glass case and allows visitors to touch it. Watson added: "It's amazing to think that we could have the real Stone of Destiny sitting there. It's also very accessible—people can touch it, it's not behind a glass screen or anything like that."
In 2023, ahead of the coronation, The Arlington publicly declared the real stone would not travel south for an "English king" and sells its own 'Stone of Destiny' lager. The pub also put up a sign stating the artefact "is staying here."
Documentary's Investigation
Matt Everett of production company Dragonfly commented: "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 documentary examines whether the stone King Charles sat upon was one of Gray's replicas, potentially making the coronation "symbolically hollow." Everett added: "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? Or is it all just a gloriously Scottish tangle of myth and mischief?"
Historical Context
The Stone of Scone has been the symbolic seat of Scottish kings for centuries. Edward I 'Hammer of the Scots' seized it from Scone Abbey in 1296 and placed it under the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey, where it has been used for most English and British coronations since. The last surviving member of the student group has since died, leaving the truth uncertain. The documentary airs Wednesday, July 15, at 9pm on Blaze TV.
