Sacred Royal relic to be moved from Edinburgh Castle to Westminster Abbey

A cloak-and-dagger operation is below option to transport the sacred Stone of Destiny from Edinburgh Castle to Westminster Abbey forward of King Charles’s Coronation subsequent month.

The Stone has had enormous significance in coronations for hundreds of years and is steeped in controversy – which is why precise timings of the rigorously deliberate army operation to maneuver it are being stored secret.

There are fears the relic, often known as the Stone of Scone, could possibly be hijacked by republican teams or offended Scottish nationalists.

Although officers have declined to debate particular threats to the Stone’s journey south, many nationalists have overtly urged disruption. One wrote on-line: ‘They solely need it below the throne to train their possession of Scotland. I’d love the actual fact it was proven on TV and we stopped it. Oh the enjoyment of it.’

Another added: ‘What is required is an insider at Edinburgh Castle to tip the wink.

A cloak-and-dagger operation is below option to transport the sacred Stone of Destiny (pictured) from Edinburgh Castle to Westminster Abbey forward of King Charles’s Coronation subsequent month

‘However it’s eliminated, there should be an enormous protest making clear it’s with out the approval of the Scottish individuals, tarnishing the Coronation in Scotland.’

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the 24st block of sandstone, measuring roughly 26 x 16 x 11in, will probably be put right into a particular container and head to its non permanent London residence within the final week of April.

On arrival, the Stone will probably be positioned beneath the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey, the place it sat for many of the previous 700 years after England’s King Edward seized it from Scotland in 1296.

On Christmas Day 1950, 4 Scottish college students eliminated it from the Abbey – taking it away in a less-than-regal Ford Anglia – and three months later it turned up 500 miles away on the excessive altar of Arbroath Abbey.

Although it was returned to Westminster Abbey, then Prime Minister John Major later unexpectedly introduced that it ought to be returned to Scotland for everlasting show.

In November 1996, the Stone was winched up and out of the Coronation Chair utilizing a working pulley. It was then lowered on to a purpose-built hand barrow, based mostly on the kind utilized by medieval stonemasons, and pushed from London to Scotland utilizing each police and Army automobiles earlier than being paraded in entrance of a ten,000-strong crowd up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle.

King Charles is reported to have stated he would have been completely pleased with the Stone of Destiny staying in Scotland, however Downing Street insisted it journey south to Westminster Abbey.

The Stone has already undergone an in depth evaluation by conservation specialists at Historic Environment Scotland (HES), who now have accountability for it.

Space constraints within the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle, the place it’s stored alongside the Scottish Crown Jewels, imply it’ll must be eliminated utilizing a particular mechanical gurney.

An insider defined: ‘It’s simply too heavy to maneuver by hand, given the area obtainable.’

Officials have declined to disclose precisely how the Stone will probably be transported south, however it’s understood to contain a multi-agency group together with the Army, police and HES.

Once again in London, it’ll must be inched into place in a fragile operation to make sure that neither the priceless stone nor Coronation Chair is broken. It is known a scaffold will probably be erected across the Coronation Chair, which can help a block-and-tackle pulley system.

A spokesman for HES stated: ‘The Stone will probably be positioned into the Coronation Chair utilizing an identical methodology to that utilized in 1996 for its elimination, however with enhancements the place methods and know-how have improved. Our specialist groups from HES and Westminster Abbey will work collaboratively to realize the set up to make sure the protection of each objects.’

Officials stay tight-lipped concerning the Stone’s journey south, saying solely that particulars and timings of the transfer is not going to be made public for safety causes.

Some time after his Westminster Abbey Coronation, King Charles III will participate in an elaborate ceremony at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh – website of a vigil for Queen Elizabeth following her loss of life in Balmoral final yr – the place he’ll obtain the Honours of Scotland: a crown, sword and sceptre relationship from the late fifteenth Century.

The final time they have been used for a coronation was to crown Charles II at Scone in 1651.