The world came to a standstill last year as millions watched the state funeral for the late Queen Elizabeth II. The stone will now make its way to Westminster Abbey, where it will be placed in the Coronation Chair for the enthronement of Charles, before returning to Scotland and put on display in the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle in the weeks that follow. Mr Yousaf said after the service, which saw the historic stone piped out: 'It was a very significant, historical moment. The procession was led by the Lord Lyon King of Arms – the monarch’s representative in Scotland – and attended by First Minister Humza Yousaf in his capacity of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and one of the commissioners for the safeguarding of the regalia. The Stone of Destiny is returning to England for the first time in more than a quarter of a century, where it will play a key role in the coronation, amid tight security.Īt Edinburgh Castle on Thursday a special ceremony was held to mark the legendary stone – which has become a symbol of Scottish nationhood but for 700 years was housed in Westminster Abbey – starting its journey south. The grand procession in 1953 took two hours and featured tens of thousands of participants, with the two-and-a-half mile cavalcade taking 45 minutes to pass any given point.Ĭharles's shorter route is understood to have been chosen for practical reasons, with a preference for the familiar journey used on many a royal occasion. The journey will be the reverse of the King and Queen Consort's route to the Abbey but much shorter than Elizabeth II's five-mile return expedition around central London which saw the 27-year-old monarch waving to crowds along Piccadilly, Oxford Street and Regent Street. More than 6,000 members of the armed forces will take part on the day of the coronation - the largest military ceremonial operation for 70 years - staging gun salutes and a flypast, and parading in the processions.

The King's Coronation Procession stretches to just 1.3 miles - around a quarter of the length of the late Queen's five-mile celebratory journey.Ī newly crowned Charles and Queen Consort will make their way back from Westminster Abbey in the Gold State Coach via the tried and tested route of Parliament Square, along Whitehall, around Trafalgar Square, through Admiralty Arch and down The Mall back to Buckingham Palace.

Coronation by Grace R. Duncan