All language subtitles for Stuff.The.British.Stole.S01E02.480p.x264-mSD.Eng-Hi

[pensive music playing]

[marc] how much do you know
about the stone of destiny?

-Ah, a little bit.
-Yeah?

Do you know what your grandad
did with the stone of destiny?

Aye, he stole it.

[laughs] he stole it.

How long ago did he do that?

-Ah, a long time ago.
-A long time ago.

[archbishop on video footage]
...Do your homage and service.

Are you willing
to do the same?

[marc] on June the 2nd, 1953,

Elizabeth ii was crowned.

But there is something
in this chapel

That many argue
shouldn't be there.

[emma] that's it there,
that's the stone of destiny.

[nico] yeah, right there.

[marc] something
that was not only stolen,

It was stolen back in

One of the most outrageous
heists in history.

A heist that shows

The united kingdom
hasn't always been so united.

[theme music playing]

[marc] in the days
of the british empire,

Things were taken.

They usually ended up
in museums and galleries

With polite plaques.

My name is marc fennell,

And this is
the not-so-polite story

Of how they really got there.

[light music playing]

[marc] so, is it
scone (scown) palace

Or scone (scoon) palace?

It's scone (scoon), and...

But I wouldn't be worried

That you might have said
scone (scown) to start with.

[lucy laughs]

[marc] in scotland,

These are the gardens

Of scone palace.

There, I said it.

It's a place with ancient
royal connections.

[marc] so this is the same land
that kings have walked on?

Yes, I don't suspect
they got lost in the maze

While they were
doing it though.

Probably not as lost
as us anyway.

[lucy] no. [laughs]

[marc] dr lucy dean teaches

Medieval
and early modern history,

Particularly
the history of scotland.

[lucy] I've always had
a fascination with scotland

That often is
sort of misunderstood

As being just part of the uk

Rather than being
a kingdom in its own right.

[marc] yes, these days,
the united kingdom is

England, wales,
northern ireland,

And, of course, scotland.

But, they used to be
quite separate.

[marc] so, tell me,
why does this place

Matter to scottish history?

This land that we're on
at the moment.

[lucy] scone is
incredibly important

Because it was important
to scottish identity

And the scottish ceremony
of kingmaking.

In the medieval period,
the 13th century and earlier,

Scotland had its own kings.

So there was a king of England

And there was
a king of scotland,

So they were
two separate kingdoms.

[marc] and to become
the king of scotland,

You needed
a certain legendary stone.

For years, each king
would sit on the stone

During their
ascension to power.

But in 1286, crisis.

Scottish king alexander iii
dies without a clear heir.

And so, scottish nobles
turn to the king of England,

Edward I, to select a ruler.

Edward picks john balliol,

A man who he assumes
will do his bidding

As the scottish leader.

This situation
does not go well.

Edward invades scotland,
imprisons balliol,

And takes away
some of scotland's

Most meaningful royal objects,

Including the stone of scone,

Or, as it's sometimes known,

The stone of destiny.

[lucy] so in 1296, the stone
is removed from scotland.

And I think by taking away
those items,

It's stripping that country
of its identity.

Its means of making a ruler
into a ruler.

[pensive music playing]

[marc] but it seems
the english didn't just

Take scotland's precious stone,

They also built something
around it.

[lucy] so this is
what I was looking for.

[marc] ah, it's
a stone in a throne.

[lucy] it is indeed
a stone in a throne.

How does it get there?

Well, this throne
was designed for this stone

When it was stolen
by edward I.

Symbolically,
even just looking at it,

If you think that
that's supposed to be

One of the symbols
of scottish kingship,

And it's your throne
as the king of England,

If you sit on that
in your coronation,

It's essentially you
sitting on the scots

And being in control
of the scots.

So if you're thinking about,
like, sort of,

The power dynamics

That edward's trying
to communicate

With where he puts the stone,

He is king of that land

Because he's able
to sit on that throne.

[marc] so they literally build
a throne around a stone?

-[lucy] yeah.
-To symbolise that dominance.

[lucy] yeah,
to symbolise dominance.

So there's just one problem

With that particular stone

In that particular throne,
isn't there?

Yeah, that's not
the real stone,

It's a replica.

The stone is
no longer in scone.

[marc] no. The
real stone of destiny

Spent centuries here

In the heart of london.

This is westminster abbey,

Where kings and queens
of England,

Right up to elizabeth ii,

Have, well, they've sat on

Scotland's most potent symbol.

[archbishop of canterbury]
...Do your homage and service...

[light music playing]

[marc] and back in scotland,
it is surprising

How England's removal of
the stone over 700 years ago,

For some at least,

It still stings.

[marc] the thing I found
curious about the story

Is that it has persisted
for so long.

It's, sort of, potency
has lasted so long.

And I'm trying to wrap
my head around why.

It's an interesting question,
and it's also,

"why has the sense
of scottishness persisted?"

When the british state
has done everything it can

To wipe out the sense
of scottishness, right?

Why is it that that persists?

[marc] bruce fummey is
a former physics teacher

Who is now
a stand-up comedian

And a historical tour guide.

Why is it important to you

That scottish history is
recorded and shared?

Like, why does that
matter to you?

Because it's part
of your identity.

And as a mixed-race guy,
you know,

As a ghanian scottish guy,
okay,

But I'm 100% culturally
scottish.

I was born here.

I grew up here.
I'm scottish.

And maybe that's part of it.

Everyone wants to know

Where they come from,
do you know what I mean?

I think it's part of
the human condition.

[marc] over the decades,
many scots have argued

For the return of the stone
from london.

[bruce] we're talking
700 years later,

And loads of things
have happened.

But it's that sense
of grievance.

-Do you know what I mean?
-Yeah.

That I think has kept it.

The fact that you know
it's in london

Under their throne.

-Do you know what I mean?
-Yeah. Yeah.

Whereas it should be here.

And I think that sense
of grieving makes it persist.

[marc] and it persisted

All the way to glasgow
in the 1950s,

Where four university students
hatched a plan

To save the scottish identity
once and for all,

And steal back scotland's
stone of destiny.

Ian hamilton,

Kay matheson,

Alan stuart,

And gavin vernon.

And I'm told
this is where it all began.

-[marc] hi.
-Hi there.

[marc] it's nice to
finally meet you.

-[emma] nice to meet you.
-How are you?

[nico] pleased to meet you.

[marc] emma and nico
are modern-day students

Here at glasgow university,

And the theft of
the stone of destiny

Is part of the mythology here,

And it's obsessed students
just like these guys ever since.

The conspirators were
students here.

They cooked up the plan
to reclaim the stone.

Yeah, that's kind of
where it all starts from.

[marc] but after
seven centuries

Of the stone being
away in England,

Why did it come
to a head then?

So obviously it's
in the post-war era,

And, you know,
the whole of the uk

Is trying to recover
along with scotland.

The levels of poverty that
used to be in the past

Were really, really high,

And glasgow itself was really
neglected in some places.

I think, back then, scotland
was, in all essence,

Another county of England.

And I think
to people that were

Pro-scottish independence
at that point,

It would probably be
quite a scary thing

To see your national identity
eroded over time

Just because of it.

Where does the idea
for the heist actually begin?

Like, where does that start?

[emma] the students,

They were looking to progress

Scottish independence forward,

And because of
the history of it,

They thought, "well,

What's a better symbol
to show scotland

Than the stone?"

[heist music playing]

[marc] so the students
set their sights

On westminster abbey,

Where the stone was
held in the throne.

[nico] so, the plan
as I understand it

Was, on christmas day,

When everyone was
celebrating christmas,

To sneak into
the abbey at night

And remove the stone,

And manage to get it

Back up to scotland
at some point.

[music continues]

[emma] before they went
down to london,

I think they tried
to figure out the floor plan

To make it, you know, the
quickest in-and-out operation

That they could.

Obviously, you need
a bit of planning.

You can't just go in
and take it, really.

[marc] no,
you definitely can't.

So, I did the tourist tour.
You're allowed to take photos.

[shutter clicking]

I've got ian's instructions
of what he did,

And I've kind of
mapped it out.

If I'm being honest
with you,

I kind of had questions

As to how this whole thing
went down.

[light music playing]

[marc] so to figure it out,
I got creative.

[marc laughs]

I present to you
my westminster abbey.

[laughs] this is what
I get up to in my spare time.

I took the instructions
that the students recorded,

Went to westminster abbey,

And I've mapped out

The pathway they took

On that one christmas day.

And I'll be honest with you,

I don't understand
how they did it.

Now, when it comes to
the actual stone itself...

[camera shutter clicking]

Turns out, very hard

To find ancient
scottish stones,

So I have sort of
a workaround.

Whoa.

What's the next best
scottish thing you can find?

-A barrel of scotch.
-[emma laughs]

This is about the weight
of what they dragged.

You've been following
the story for a long time.

Would you care
to try and recreate it?

-100%, yeah.
-Yeah, let's try it, yeah.

Okay. Wait, wait,
before you do it.

Turns out, they didn't just
drag it along the floor.

-They had a coat.
-[emma laughs]

[grunting]

-[emma] yeah.
-[nico] probably, yeah.

[marc] oh! Okay.

That would be-- we
definitely broke something.

[all grunting, straining]

I think it's about now
that a, like,

A police officer
was coming by or something.

[nico] yeah, and the group
got split up because

They had to go out
and distract the policeman.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

This is an actual
debacle, isn't it?

-[nico] yes.
-Yeah.

Didn't quite go to plan,
I don't think.

Sadly, I don't have
a fake police officer

For this re-creation.

[nico laughs]

All those in favour of

Just rolling it, say "aye."

-Yeah.
-Aye.

[marc] all right, here we go.

Is this cheating?

-[nico] just a little bit.
-[emma] yeah.

[marc] off you go. Freedom!

Seriously, how did they get
this thing out of london?

[marc] when you look
at the heist

Of scotland's
stone of destiny,

It seems like anything
that could go wrong did.

So, the plan involved two cars.

After dark, the students burst
through one of the side doors

And sneak towards the throne.

They hoist the heavy stone
out of the throne

And begin dragging it
towards the exit.

But...

[nico] they couldn't lift it

Because it was so heavy,

And then that's when
it got broken.

I don't think they realised,
you know, how heavy it was.

[marc] that's right. The
precious stone breaks in two.

But the thieves
are undeterred.

And now,
the most dangerous part.

Get the stone out of the abbey
and into the street.

And this is the bit
where that policeman shows up.

The group is scrambling.

How on earth
did they get out of london?

A minor miracle,
I think, honestly.

Yeah, every step of the plan
went wrong,

And they still managed it.

[newsreader]
a christmas day sensation

At westminster abbey.

The stone of destiny

Was stolen from
the coronation chair.

[bruce] can you imagine?
You know that

You're the guy with the stone,

And it's on the telly
every night?

And you're, you'd be sitting
shitting yourself, wouldn't you?

You're like,
you know they're come--

Even to think about doing it
in the first place

Is quite a brave act,
do you know what I mean?

Because the punishment
could have been severe.

[piano music playing]

[marc] as soon as
the authorities

Realised the stone was stolen,

They actually shut the border

Between scotland and England.

It's the first time they've
done it in 400 years.

But the students knew that
the border was being watched,

So they did something
really clever.

Instead of going north
to scotland,

They went south,
a little bit outside of london,

And in an open field,

They literally hid the stone

Where anybody could find it.

Honestly, I don't know
what they were thinking.

And really, right now

There's only one person
alive that does.

[pensive music playing]

[knocking]

-Hello, how are you?
-Hi, marc. Nice to meet you.

It's nice to meet you too.

-Come in and meet father.
-Thank you.

This is the last remaining
student from that heist.

Indeed, the architect
of the whole theft.

96-year-old ian hamilton,

And his son jamie.

When did you first get
the idea to take the stone?

Way back
when I was a schoolboy,

I heard about this,

And somebody told me it
was the token stone

For the scottish people,

And I immediately thought,

"what the fuck's
it doing in England?"

[marc] we went
to westminster abbey

And I tried to retrace
the steps of what you did,

And it's really,
I'm in awe.

Like, it was really heavy.

I don't know how you did it.
I really don't.

Ach, well, was the
coronation chair

Perched away in a corner?

Yeah, they've moved it.

They moved it down by the,

Down by the gift shop.

-Have they?
-Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think that's

One of the great achievements

Of my life. [laughs]

What, that they moved it
because of you?

Yes. Yes,
of course they did.

They, they'd get fed--

They would get fed up
with people saying,

"where's the stone?"

[marc] when you were
growing up,

Were people proud
to be scottish here?

I'm not sure that they were,
right, there's...

No. The answer to that is no.

They needed a shake.
An awakening.

Why did they need a shake?
Why? What was needed?

Because they were pretty well
amalgamated with the english,

Who are, after all,
our hereditary enemies.

Not that I hold them
as enemies,

But I do hold them as
very different people.

[marc] as soon as
the authorities realised

The stone was missing, you see
two very different reactions.

One in scotland
and one in England.

[newsreader]
the dean of westminster

Called the disappearance
an act of sacrilege.

Just around the corner,
at scotland yard,

A nationwide search
was organised.

[bruce] they start off
with the threats, like,

Okay, "oh you're going to be
in big trouble, my lad,

Right, if you don't give
yourself up, it's going--

We're going to throw
the book at you."

But they can't find
these people.

[emma] I think especially
in England and london,

It was something that
was unthinkable,

That it happened.

The whole thing was

A huge smack in
the face, I think,

To certain people in power.

Yeah, definitely.

[nico] but I think
in scotland, the reaction

Was quite different than
what it was down south.

Yeah. And I think it did help
for a lot of people,

Rekindle a sense
of scottishness

Separate from
britishness.

[ian] yes,
absolutely, absolutely.

I've never seen
anything like it since.

They were cheering
in the street

Shaking hands with strangers.

It was momentous.

[lucy] symbols like the stone,

They're about identity.

They're about a shared

Understanding of the past.

Being part of a community

Because of the symbols that
hold you together,

And about demonstrating

Scotland's independence
as a kingdom.

It's about being able
to lay claim to that

And demonstrate that

Just because it ended up

In a union with another country

Doesn't mean that
its separate existence

Should be forgotten about.

When you took the stone,
you gave them that feeling.

You gave a whole sense
of joy to scotland.

That's an impressive legacy.

Yes, that's so,
that's what we did.

That's... We did.

I think it would be true to say

It became a different country
after that.

[marc] but how long could
that stone stay hidden?

[marc] the stone of destiny
has been taken from london,

And they've hidden it
in a field.

Eventually, the thieves drive
the stone north to scotland.

They took it to a stone mason
who put it back together,

And the students turned it in
to the authorities.

[newsreader] in the ruins
of arbroath abby,

There ended a mystery that has
lasted since christmas day.

For here was found
the stone of destiny.

It was taken away
by the police,

And this Friday afternoon,

The stone is
on its way to london.

[marc] did you ever
get in trouble

When you returned the stone?

They never prosecuted you
after taking the stone?

No, they, they didn't
prosecute us, no.

Why not?

There'd have been a rebellion
in scotland if they had.

England was different.

We were called
to the house of commons,

To my great glee.

"these vulgar vandals."

He's a son of a vv.

[laughs]

[marc] for years, rumours have
spread that the stone

That ian left for the english
was actually a fake,

And the real one, well, it's
somewhere here in scotland.

It's nice to be able
to touch this.

-[bruce] it is.
-[marc laughs]

So, the story is that
this is the real stone.

-Of course it is.
-Of course, naturally.

I mean, it's a ridiculous
story, right?

You're going to
get us kicked out.

You are going to
get us kicked out.

[bruce] there's...

-He doesn't mean it.
-Okay.

He doesn't mean it, it's fine.

Oh yeah, I'm sure
it's the real one.

These are the kind
of debates that go on

All the time, isn't it?

[marc] but, four decades after
he surrendered the stone

To go back to london,

In 1996,

Ian got his wish.

The stone was
returned to scotland,

To edinburgh castle

Where it's lived ever since.

[pensive music playing]

[marc] the story
of the stone

Has really never been
about the stone,

At least not for years.

It's a symbol,
and it always has been,

Of power, of pride,

And above all things,

It's a symbol of loss.

The initial taking of the stone

From scotland down to England,

Do you regard that as theft?

-Yeah.
-Okay.

Yeah, I mean, it's, the
whole point of it, I think,

Was for edward to show
his overlordship over scotland

And english supremacy
over scotland.

It was stolen, yeah.

[coronation plays indistinctly]

[marc] even though the theft,

And I guess you could call it
re-theft, of the stone

Is so far in the past,

Somehow it's still driving
new generations of scots.

[marc] if you met ian,

What is the number one thing
you'd like to know from him?

If I met him, I'd want to--
it's not so much

What I'd want to learn
from him, but...

I'd want to say, you know,

Thank you for what he'd done

For the whole movement
as a whole.

How much reach it had

For driving people towards
scottish independence.

[crowds cheering]

[nico] it definitely was one of

The major contributing factors

That saved
the scottish identity

From being eroded fully.

[crowds cheering]

[marc] what do you hope
for scotland?

There's been calls
for independence.

There's been referendums.

What do you hope happens
next with scotland, ian?

That's not for me.

That's a question
I can't answer.

I'm 96 years old.

There are several generations
beyond me

Who have got to
face up to that.

It's theirs.

The people of scotland.

[emma] personally,
I'd love to see

An independent scotland,
obviously, very soon.

-[crowd cheering]
-yeah, come on!

[nico] additionally, it's,
to me, independence

Is a means to an end,

And that end being, you know,

A fairer, more open
scotland for everyone.

[emma] we just have to
keep pushing for it,

And, soon, I think
it will happen.

Mm. Haven't stolen a single
giant lump of rock yet though.

-I mean, no.
-[emma] not yet.

The night is young, you know?

There's still things
that can happen.

[calm music playing]

[marc] but there is
one last twist.

Ian's son jaime has something
he wants to show me.

This is a small bit
of the stone of destiny

Which broke off

When the stone of destiny

Was removed from
westminster abbey.

And my father had
the presence of mind to...

-To trouser it...
-[both laugh]

And got it set in a brooch,

And gave the brooch
to my mother.

You can't really own
something like this,

But it's been handed over
for safekeeping.

Um, you know, and it will go
onto subsequent generations.

[pensive music playing]

[marc] are you going to pass
that on to felix one day?

[jamie] undoubtedly, yeah,
that will go to my son.

Yeah.

[marc] what sort of scotland

Do you want for felix?

[pensive music continues]

[jamie] I would love felix
to be raised in a country

Which is ethnically diverse,
open, friendly...

Free, of course.

And I'd hope that would remain
for the future

For generations to come.

[indistinct chatter]

What makes
scottish people special?

Being scots,
for fuck's sake.

[marc laughs]