Stone of Destiny: Why is it not on display at Perth Museum? When will it be back?
The stone, used in the coronation of kings and queens for more than 1,000 years, has not been seen since July.
The Stone of Destiny arrived in Perth in 2024 in the dark of night in what was regarded as a major coup for the city's revamped museum.
But the stone, the most potent symbol of Scotland's nationhood, has not been seen in public since mid-July.
Why is the Stone of Destiny not on display?
Questions are being asked about when the Stone of Destiny will go back on show after its display was shut down following an attack by an Australian tourist on July 12. While the stone was unharmed, the glass case was badly damaged.
The move to Perth Museum was hailed as a form of homecoming given the treasured item was taken by Edward from Scone Abbey some 800 years earlier. There, the stone was kept and carried to nearby Moot Hill for coronations of kings for centuries, including that of Robert the Bruce.
The stone’s acquisition by Perth Museum led to a hugely successful launch run for the attraction, which opened last spring following a £27 million redevelopment.
By August this year, 343,911 people had visited the museum, with 142,420 paying to enter the Stone of Destiny Experience, where visitors can get up close to the stone that has played a huge witness to Scotland's history and timeline.
The artefact’s simple and effective display enhanced its supremely important place in Sotland's story.
After the glass case was damaged on July 12, Arnaud Harixcalde Logan, 35, from Sydney, was charged with malicious mischief during a private hearing at Perth Sheriff Court and was remanded in custody. He has since been released on bail with a further court appearance due.
When will the Stone of Destiny go back on display?
No further date has been given by Perth and Kinross Council as to when the Stone of Destiny can be viewed once more.
Murdo Fraser, a Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said he hoped the issue could be “resolved quickly”.
A statement said: “The delay in reopening the Stone of Destiny experience is a cause for concern, given its historic importance. It was a massive coup for Perth Museum in bringing the stone back to its ancestral home and has led to thousands of tourists coming to see it. I hope this problem can be resolved quickly.”
When did the Stone of Destiny return to Scotland?
At Perth, the Stone of Destiny was displayed amid a retelling of the coronation of boy king Alexander III, who was crowned aged just seven in 1249.
That was 47 years before Edward I took the stone in his bid to assert total authority over Scotland and dispatched the artefact to London. Coronations were still held at Scone, but the stone was now in Westminster Abbey. There, it remained until 1950 when an audacious plot to return it to Scotland was launched by four Glasgow University students.
The four students - Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Alan Stuart and Kay Matheson, all members of the Scottish Covenant Association that campaigned for a devolved Scottish assembly - entered the Abbey on Christmas Day.
While moving the stone the group dropped it, cracking it in two, with a piece falling on Ms Matheson’s foot and breaking one of her toes.
After the stone was discovered missing, a nationwide manhunt was launched, with the Border closed for the first time in 400 years.
What happened next has slipped into urban legend, with it claimed the four returned to Glasgow and celebrated their acquisition at the Arlington Bar in Glasgow, where the stone was hoisted upon the bar.
The repaired Stone of Destiny was found in Arbroath Abbey in 1951, draped in a saltire, and then returned to Westminster for the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. It remained there until 1996, when it was returned to Scotland to go on display at Edinburgh Castle. Much pageantry surrounded the move, which was made in the run up to Scottish Devolution.
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