Christopher Lee was originally cast as "Elder Ian Hamilton", the lead character, now in his 80s, who begins to the tell the story of what happened 57 years ago. However, when the rough cut of the film was screened for a test audience, the director, editor and producers all decided that this device of a "Flashback" was not necessary to the film, and in fact, unnecessarily slowed down the beginning of the story. Therefore that scene was cut and as a result the film is told completely from the point of view of Young Ian Hamilton.
A lot of the external night scenes and interior scenes were shot at Paisley Abbey, not Westminster Abbey.
Though not specifically mentioned in the film, a man by the name of John Josselyn was one of the men who went with Ian Hamilton to the field to recover the stashed stone. John Josselyn, ironically, was a 21st great-grandson of King Edward I.
Robert Carlyle, who played John McCormick in this film, also starred in Hamish Macbeth (1995), a show whose final episode also dealt with a theft of the Stone of Destiny.
A joint UK/Canadian film.
Ian Hamilton: sour-faced English businessman who passes Ian Hamilton and Gavin Vernon as they get out of the car shortly before their first attempt to remove the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey (36 minutes).