Edward I took Scotland's coronation stone in 1296; four students took it back on Christmas Day 1950 and broke it in two

Scottish kings were inaugurated on the Stone of Destiny at Scone. In 1296 Edward I of England invaded Scotland and took the stone to Westminster Abbey as spoils of war. A chair was made to hold it in 1300 and 1301, and English and then British monarchs were crowned over it. The Treaty of Northampton in 1328 required England to return it, but it stayed^†. In the early hours of 25 December 1950 four Glasgow University students, Ian Hamilton, Kay Matheson, Gavin Vernon and Alan Stuart, removed it from the abbey. It broke in two when Hamilton pulled on it. They buried the larger part near Rochester, Kent, and later hid it under factory floorboards at Bonnybridge. In April 1951 they left it at the ruined Arbroath Abbey, and it went back to Westminster. The Home Secretary said it would not be in the public interest to prosecute. None of the four was charged. In 1996 the government announced the stone would return to Scotland and go back to London only for coronations. It was handed over in Edinburgh on 30 November 1996. It went to Westminster for the coronation of Charles III on 6 May 2023 and returned. Since March 2024 it has been shown at Perth Museum.