EIR2023/00331: Stone of Destiny (IDA 292952)
Case reference EIR2023/00331
Published 4 March 2024
Request
Request Received: 2 June 2023
Hi, as per my FOI request below to HES, would you please advise WHO and exactly WHEN approval was given to BGS for the piece of the Stone of Destiny of Scotland to be given for inclusion in King Charles Coronation coach, under the FOI rules?
Response
Response Sent: 27 June 2023
Thank you for your request, made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Since your request concerns environmental information, we have considered it under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Your request is for 'who and exactly when approval was given to BGS for the piece of the Stone of Destiny of Scotland to be given for inclusion in King Charles Coronation coach'. This coach is the Diamond Jubilee State Coach that was built in Australia by W.J. Frecklington, to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.
The response you received from Historic Environment Scotland concerning who gave approval for the donation of a fragment of the Stone of Destiny, states that, 'a scraping (as it was known) was held by the British Geological Survey (BGS) as part of their conservation work and released by them following protocol and after approval was granted from the four Commissioners of the Regalia: the First Minister, Lord Advocate, Lord Justice and Earl of Wemyss'.
We would just clarify that the conservation work mentioned took place in the late 19th Century and that the samples concerned are historic samples, collected over 100 years ago. BGS does not hold any more recent samples.
In terms of the approvals, we can provide some additional detail. Under the BGS Collections disposal protocol, the disposal of any registered specimens requires majority approval by the Collections Advisory Committee (a committee of experts in the curation of museum collections). A proposal to donate a fragment of the stone was first discussed and agreed with the BGS Director and senior managers of BGS and then put to the Collections Advisory Committee by the Chief Curator of BGS on 1st March 2007. The Committee approved the donation, but BGS did not release the sample until permission was also obtained from the Commissioners of the Regalia, as explained in the HES letter to you. BGS wrote to the First Minister on 8th March 2007 to request that he consult with the other Commissioners and grant us permission to make the donation.
On 9th May 2007 the donation was made, and the accompanying letter to Mr Frecklington states that it had taken time to send the specimen because permission had to be sought from the First Minister as one of the Commissioners of the Regalia.
I hope this answers your questions. If you have any queries regarding our response or you are unhappy with the outcome of your request and wish to seek an internal review of the decision, please contact:
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Kind regards
The BGS Enquiries Service
Documents
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