The Stone of Scone is a small, bench-shaped piece of sandstone that has been used for the crowning of Scottish monarchs since the ninth century. It was brought to Westminster Abbey by Edward the First in 1296, the back of this menu notes, so he and his successors could claim the crown of Scotland when they were also crowned monarch of England.
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Also known as the Stone of Destiny, the stone was placed under the coronation chair for the crowning of King George VI and, 16 years later, his daughter Elizabeth. In light of recent successionist sentiments in Scotland, the stone was returned to Scotland in 1996 with the expectation that, when Charles inherits the crown, it will be returned to Westminster Abbey for his coronation.
The menu cover doesn’t actually show the stone. Instead, it depicts the legendary transport of a stone to Egypt for a wedding between King Cecrops of Attica (southern Greece) and the pharaoh’s daughter. Later the stone supposedly made its way to Spain, Ireland, and Scotland.
Geological analysis, however, has shown that the current stone was quarried near Scone, Scotland. Does that mean that the original stone is gone and this one is a fake? Or that the legend of Cecrops is wrong? Quite possibly, both are true.