Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The space below the chair originally held a big sandstone rock from Scotland called the
Stone of Scone (pronounced “skoon”), symbolizing Scotland's unity with England's mon-
arch. But in the 1990s, Britain gave Scotland more sovereignty, its own Parliament, and
the Stone, which Scotland has agreed to loan to Britain for future coronations (the rest of
the time, it's on display in Edinburgh Castle).
Next to the chapel with the chair hangs a 600-year-old portrait of King Richard II.
The boy king is holding the royal orb and scepter, wearing the crown, and seated upon this
very chair.
Finally, take one last look down the nave. Listen to and ponder this place, filled with
the remains of the people who made Britain a world power—saints, royalty, poets, mu-
sicians, scientists, soldiers, politicians. Now step back outside into a city filled with the
modern-day poets, saints, and heroes who continue to make Britain great.
