Through an onslaught of gunfire a well known professor leaps to his death off the mighty Irish Cliffs of Moher. Discovering a buried secret was his last fruitless act; keeping hidden a far greater secret, a secret concealed by the Queen of England herself, was his sacrificial intention. As cogs drop into play throughout the United Kingdom a young American in London finds himself caught up in the world's greatest unknown conspiracy. With the life of his grandfather on the line, and the legitimacy of the British royal family in question, Trevor Emerson races against time and history in his shared quest to find the Stone of Destiny.From Edinburgh Castle to Piccadilly Circus to King Arthur's ancient Isle of Avalon, join our heroes down the rabbit hole of royalty where the right secret, sufficiently veiled, can ensure the lifelong reaping of billions of dollars, and worse, the lifelong ruling over billions of lives.Is the Queen of England playing the world for a con? Where is the Stone of Destiny?To answer one question is to answer the other.
Constructed in 1297?1300 for King Edward I, the Coronation Chair ranks amongst the most remarkable and precious treasures to have survived from the Middle Ages. It incorporated in its seat a block of sandstone, which the king seized at Scone, following his victory over the Scots in 1296. For centuries, Scottish kings had been inaugurated on this symbolic ‘Stone of Scone’, to which a copious mythology had also become attached. Edward I presented the Chair, as a holy relic, to the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey, and most English monarchs since the fourteenth century have been crowned in it, the last being HM Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953. The Chair and the Stone have had eventful histories: in addition to physical alterations, they suffered abuse in the eighteenth century, suffragettes attached a bomb to them in 1914, they were hidden underground during the Second World War, and both were damaged by the gang that sacrilegiously broke into Westminster Abbey and stole the Stone in 1950. It was recovered and restored to the Chair, but since 1996 the Stone has been exhibited on loan in Edinburgh Castle. Now somewhat battered through age, the Chair was once highly ornate, being embellished with gilding, painting and coloured glass. Yet, despite its profound historical significance, until now it has never been the subject of detailed archaeological recording. Moreover, the remaining fragile decoration was in need of urgent conservation, which was carried out in 2010?12, accompanied by the first holistic study of the Chair and Stone. In 2013 the Chair was redisplayed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Coronation of HM The Queen. The latest investigations have revealed and documented the complex history of the Chair: it has been modified on several occasions, and the Stone has been reshaped and much altered since it left Scone. This volume assembles, for the first time, the complementary evidence derived from history, archaeology and conservation, and presents a factual account of the Coronation Chair and the Stone of Scone, not as separate artefacts, but as the entity that they have been for seven centuries. Their combined significance to the British Monarchy and State – and to the history and archaeology of the English and Scottish nations – is greater than the sum of their parts. Also published here for the first time is the second Coronation Chair, made for Queen Mary II in 1689. Finally, accounts are given of the various full-size replica chairs in Britain and Canada, along with a selection of the many models in metal and ceramic which have been made during the last two centuries.
This title is now a major Hollywood film starring Robert Carlyle and Billy Boyd. Ian Robertson Hamilton was an unknown law student at Glasgow University until Christmas Eve 1950. On that night, assisted by Alan Stewart, Gavin Vernon and Kay Matheson, he took the Stone of Destiny from beneath the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey and in doing so became a Scottish national hero. In England, however, the act had the opposite effect and a manhunt for the 'vulgar vandals' was started to satisfy the outrage of the English establishment and bring them to justice. In the end, the Stone was given up, but the gang were not charged. This solitary act set Hamilton on a path for the rest of his life from which he has not diverged. Although, it is now nearly sixty years since that fateful night, it is the actual events surrounding the taking of the Stone which hold people spellbound when Hamilton recounts them.In this book, Ian Hamilton has set down the chain of events which led to his decision to go to London, remove the Stone and a minute-by-minute account of the act and the aftermath. But this is not simply a retelling of a stunt that made nationwide news, it is a book about how a nation's conscience was stirred by a symbolic act that changed lives of many.
The Stone of Destiny, Stone of Scone or Coronation Stone, is a relatively unattractive and unappealing slab of stone but it is also a unique symbol in Scottish history, linked to royal inaugurations. At a conference organised by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1997 participants focused on the stone as both object and symbol', discussing its origins, authenticity, its role as a national icon, its removal and loss, and its final return to Scotland in 1996. A range of different approaches were taken assessing the geology of the stone, its ceremonial functions, its links with Scone and Scone Abbey and its turbulent history. Contributors include:
This comprehensive work not only gives a history of the reign of King Robert I, but also includes an account of the early history of Scotland and the succession disputes of the late 1200s that in part led to the great war that the Bruce fought in.
Who is trying to eliminate the British Royal Family? And why? After all, the monarchy is largely ceremonial and symbolic. What does the Stone of Destiny have to do with an ancient Biblical promise? Where is the Throne of David? God promised David that someone would sit on his throne throughout eternity. It’s that earthly throne that Christ will claim upon His return. And yet, where did it go after King Zedekiah was overthrown and exiled to Babylon in 585 BC? Why would a new world leader, who waits in the shadows to assume his role in history, want to claim the Throne of Promise as his? When The Assembly is tasked to fulfill this leader’s wish, will they succeed in thwarting God’s plan? Based upon a mix of Biblical prophecy and current events, A Zealot’s Destiny, Book 5 of the MedAir Series, is a political thriller that will take you on a breakneck roller coaster of action. An explosion at a royal residence in England leads to a small town in Missouri. Is it terrorism, an assassination … or both? Agents of the Royal Protection Service, FBI, and Secret Service … some, or all, could be corrupt. From Westminster College back to Westminster Abbey, Lynch Cully doesn’t know who to trust. In the end, his life will never be the same. You won’t want to put this book down.
Following the murder of his father at Bannockburn in 1488, fifteen-year-old James Stewart was crowned James IV of Scotland. From those inauspicious beginnings, the inexperienced boy-king was to become one of the finest and most popular kings in Scotland's history, leading his people bravely through some of the nation's most dramatic and colourful years. Bold, vigorous, headstrong and romantic, he inspired great loyalty from men, and passionate love from women. So great was his people's affection that the bravest and best of Scotland's young men finally laid down their lives for him - at the tragic Field of Flodden. Accomplished lover, able king, complex personality, James IV of Scotland is brought to memorable life in Nigel Tranter's compelling tale of drama, intrigue and treachery.
With the royal wedding around the corner, there no better time than the present to get acquainted with Royal Britain Bestselling author Christopher Winn explores Britain's royal past, unearthing a rich legacy of castles and palaces, cathedrals and country retreats, battlefields and monuments where kings and queens lived and died. In this exploration of royal British history, discover whose heart is buried near the Tower of London; which palace was built on top of a mulberry garden; the world's oldest and largest occupied castle and the first building in Britain to have latrines. From the Palace of Scone to the Palace of Westminster, from Pembroke Castle, the birthplace of Henry VII, to Pontefract Castle, where Richard II starved to death, and from banqueting halls to beheading sites, this gem of a book is guaranteed to inform and amuse in equal measure.
