Prince Charles urged to choose Scone for any future coronation

Tayside historian and author says crowning place of Scottish kings would be perfect

A Tayside historian and author has issued a plea to Prince Charles to consider Scone Palace for his potential coronation.

Euan Macpherson, an English lecturer at Dundee and Angus College, believes the Duke of Rothesay should recognise the royal family’s Scottish forefathers by choosing Perthshire for his crowning, when and if the time comes.

In his letter to Buckingham Palace, he argues that because Scone pre-dates Westminster as a seat for coronations by more than two centuries, the prince should contemplate re-instating an ancient tradition.

He wrote: “I humbly suggest that it would be most appropriate and in keeping with your family’s respect for Scottish history and tradition, if the future King Charles III chose to be crowned at Scone.”

Mr Macpherson, who recently published a book about a little-known Jacobite heroine, said: “Scone is an older, more sacred, site than Westminster.

“English monarchs have been crowned at Westminster since 1066 when William the Conqueror was crowned on Christmas Day.

“But kings of Scots were crowned at Scone as far back as AD 843.

“At the very least, we can say Scone pre-dates Westminster as a royal and sacred site by at least 200 years.”

He said it is possible that the kings of Picts were also crowned at Scone even earlier.

“When Kenneth mac Alpin united the Scottish and Pictish kingdoms in 843, he must have been crowned at a location that was already recognised as being both historic and sacred,” he said.

“Scone must have been regarded in Ninth-Century Scotland as being more sacred and more ancient even than Iona or Dunadd.”

Mr Macpherson, who also wrote a book about Jack The Ripper, said: “The investiture of Prince Charles took place in Caernarfon in Wales in 1969.

“The principal residence of the monarch, Buckingham Palace, is in England.

“A coronation at Scone would not only recognise the royal family’s Scottish antecedents, but would also show respect for Scotland’s ancient history and traditions.”

A total of 38 kings were inaugurated and crowned at Scone, including Robert the Bruce and Charles II.

Scone was also the site of the first Parliament of Scotland, when in 906 King Constantine II called for an assembly at Hill of Belief, near the then “royal city”.

Pictures: Dougie Nicolson/Getty. Euan Macpherson, left, Brian McCutcheon as Robert the Bruce, who was crowned at Scone, and Prince Charles during his investiture at Caernarfon, Wales.