<P> On Christmas Day 1950, a group of four Scottish students (Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson, and Alan Stuart) removed the stone from Westminster Abbey for return to Scotland . During the removal process, the stone broke into two pieces . After burying the greater part of the Stone in a Kent field, where they camped for a few days, they uncovered the buried stone and returned to Scotland, along with a new accomplice, John Josselyn . According to one US diplomat who was posted in Edinburgh at the time, the stone was hidden for a short time in a trunk in the basement of the Consulate's Public Affairs Officer, unknown to him, before it was removed . Although English, Josselyn, who was then a student at the University of Glasgow, was a Scottish Nationalist . Edward I was Josselyn's 21st great - grandfather . The smaller piece was similarly brought north at a later time . The entire stone was passed to a senior Glasgow politician, who arranged for it to be professionally repaired by Glasgow stonemason Robert Gray . </P> <P> A major search for the stone was ordered by the British Government, but proved unsuccessful . The custodians left the stone on the altar of Arbroath Abbey on 11 April 1951, in the safekeeping of the Church of Scotland . Once the London police were informed of its whereabouts, the stone was returned to Westminster four months after it was removed . Afterwards, rumours circulated that copies had been made of the stone, and that the returned stone was not the original . </P> <P> In 1996, in a symbolic response to growing dissatisfaction among Scots at the prevailing constitutional settlement, the British Government decided that the stone should be kept in Scotland when not in use at coronations . On 3 July 1996, it was announced in the House of Commons that the stone would be returned to Scotland, and on 15 November 1996, after a handover ceremony at the border between representatives of the Home Office and of the Scottish Office, it was transported to Edinburgh Castle . The stone arrived in the Castle on 30 November 1996, St Andrew's Day, where the official handover ceremony occurred . Prince Andrew, Duke of York, representing Queen Elizabeth II, formally handed over the Royal Warrant transferring the stone into the safekeeping of the Commissioners for the Regalia . It currently remains alongside the crown jewels of Scotland, the Honours of Scotland, in the Crown Room . </P> <Ul> <Li> The Stone of Scone's removal from Westminster Abbey and return to Scotland is the subject of the 2008 film Stone of Destiny, with Charlie Cox as Ian Hamilton, who also appears in a cameo role in the film . </Li> <Li> The same incident appears in an episode of Highlander: The Series . </Li> <Li> It also appears in the final two episodes of Hamish Macbeth, "Destiny" parts 1 and 2 . </Li> <Li> The Stone of Scone is mentioned in the 2010 film The King's Speech . </Li> <Li> In Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, The Fifth Elephant novel features the theft of the "Scone of Stone", an ancient bread on which a dwarf king takes seat for his coronation . </Li> <Li> Andrew Greig's 2008 novel Romanno Bridge is about a quest for the real Stone of Scone . </Li> <Li> August Derleth featured the theft and return of the stone in his short story "The Adventure of the Stone of Scone", included in one of the collections of his Sherlock Holmes pastiches, featuring his fictional detective Solar Pons . The story credits the recovery of the stone at the abbey to his powers of ratiocination . </Li> <Li> In the alternate history novel Dominion by C.J. Sansom, the Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland by the fictional Nazi puppet government in control of the United Kingdom during World War 2 . </Li> <Li> In the animated series Gargoyles, Macbeth swears by the Stone of Destiny at his coronation ceremony . The Stone is later revealed to be the same from which Arthur drew Excalibur . </Li> <Li> The Stone appears as a Treasure Demon (a class of enemies based on valuable objects) in the 2016 video game Persona 5 . </Li> <Li> The stone appears in the eighth episode of the first season of the Netflix series The Last Kingdom . </Li> </Ul>

When was the stone of destiny returned to scotland