How the Stone of Scone Figures Into the Coronation of Scottish Kings

The coronation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom will be this Saturday, although he's already been the king for months. The ceremony will be dripping with tradition and pageantry, and that includes the rather weird custom of installing the Stone of Destiny underneath the coronation chair. The coronation chair was built around the year 1300 and is only used for coronations. The stone, also known as the Stone of Scone, has its own story.

The legend is that it is the stone Jacob rested his head upon when he dreamed of a ladder to heaven in the Bible. It then traveled to many countries before ending up in Scotland. But those stories have no documentation. Experts say the sandstone block is the same as other stones from the quarry at Scone in Scotland. The documented history of the Stone of Scone has plenty of details, from the Scottish and later English kings who used it in their coronations to the suffragists who attacked it to its theft in 1950. The Stone of Scone traveled from Edinburgh Castle to London this past Saturday, and will be installed underneath the coronation chair in time for the ceremonies this weekend. Read about the history and traditions of the Stone of Scone at Mental Floss.