Earl of Bothwell and the Sticky Situation

After Lord Darnley's death, I had one more husband; his name was James Hepburn, the 4th earl of Bothwell. I married him under Protestant customs.  Wasn't it ironic? 

Lord Darnley

Honestly, I thought that my nobles supported my marriage, but I was wrong. They raised an army against Bothwell and me! Later on, Earl of Bothwell and I met the nobles on Carberry Hill; they wanted me to separate from him, and sadly, I agreed to this. I sincerely hoped that they would keep their promise to me. However, the Scottish nobles went against their word and put me in Loch Leven Castle, imprisoning me there.  What went wrong? Did I miss something? 

Loch Leven Castle

I found that by being married to Earl of Bothwell was my biggest mistake; I learned this the harsh way.

When I was at Edinburgh, the mob wanted me to die; they yelled and jeered me! I became really scared...

To be "safe", I was forced to go back to Loch Leven Castle, and at the castle,  I miscarried Bothwell's twins.

Meanwhile, Bothwell, escaped to Norway to seek refuge. Unfortunately, he was captured by the King of Denmark and held captive until his death. He died "insanely".

Overall, I didn't know many people disapproved of my marriage to Earl of Bothwell, and I especially didn't know I had many enemies. If I had known this earlier, I would have prevented this situation from the beginning and saved myself from this pain and misery.

Image and Video Sources: Wikipedia, YouTube, Phouka.com

Lord Darnley

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

When I met Lord Darnley (Henry Stuart), my half-cousin, I immediately fell in love with him. Although he was three years younger than me, I still liked him.

Later, we got married, and Elizabeth didn't approve. Apparently Elizabeth "felt threatened" by our marriage, for Lord Darnley and I were the next in line for the English throne. Even the English ambassador, Nicholas Throckmorton, commented "that surely she [Queen Mary of Scots] is bewitched", saying that  our union could only be "averted by violence".

It was nice of them to comment on my life, but honestly, did their opinions mattered/affected to me? Nope.  It didn't. Plus, I ended up marrying Lord Darnley anyways.

Honestly, I was truly happy (with my marriage) with  Darnley--until he got jealous.

David Rizzio

He was jealous of my friendship with David Rizzio, my private secretary. Can you believe that? Why would he be jealous?  It was not like I cheated behind his back or anything.

Meanwhile,  Darnley and several nobles decided to plan Rizzio's murder.  I was unaware of this matter.

In March 9, 1566, at Holyrood Palace, Darnley barged in to our (Rizzio and I) conference and murdered my secretary in front of me.

How could he do that? Rizzio was my friend.
Not only that, Darnley killed David Rizzio in front of me. 
Why would Lord Darnley be jealous of  him? I was carrying his child for Pete's sake!

Because of this incident, I could never forgive him.

In that same year, James, my son, was born on June, 19, 1566.  But before I could relax, I attended a meeting at Craigmillar, discussing a method to get rid of Darnley (and also hoped to divorce him as soon as possible).

Apparently, Darnley heard of this meeting and ran away to his father (who resided at Glasgow).  At Glasgow, Lord Darnley became ill of smallpox.

So in 1567, I visited Darnley and urged him  to stay at an abbey in Edinburgh to recuperate. He listened to me, and in that year, I came by his house frequently; I tried to reconcile with him.

On the night that I was gone, an explosion occured in the house; Darnley was found dead in the garden....

All in all, if he had not been jealous, Lord Darnley would have been a good husband to me. Being "jealous" was his major flaw, a flaw that I could not forget--or forgive.

Image Source: Luminarium.org, RoyalCollection.org.uk

Elizabeth I, My Cousin

Queen Elizabeth I

Most people would expect that my relationship with Elizabeth was a "solid" one, for she was my cousin.

However, this was certainly not the case. Although I have never met face-to-face with Elizabeth, we tried to keep this "friendship" up. But our efforts were futile. It didn't work. After all, how could I be friends with her when I don't want her to be the Queen of England? Besides, she probably hated me too.

So after Francis passed away, many people were curious about me and my "future" husband.

Strangely, Elizabeth decided to handle this matter; she hoped that I would marry Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

Well first of all, Leicester was known to be Elizabeth's "lover"--he was also a "wife-murderer". When she suggested him to me, I was offended! Nonetheless, I didn't care for "Leicester", for I decided to marry Lord Darnley.

After this whole "marriage" issue, I expected her to stop interfering with my life, but she didn't.

After I was imprisoned (see Earl of Bothwell and the Sticky Situation), I asked Elizabeth to help me out. Although she helped me to get out of this predicament, I was still a prisoner under her care.

Many wanted to me dead, but Elizabeth was different. Maybe it was because I owed her my life. At this point, however, my relationship with Elizabeth was even more strained than before...

Without a doubt, I can say for sure that disliked Elizabeth from the beginning. But now, I am not sure what to think of her anymore...

Image Source: EnglishHistory.net

Life in France

Henry II of France

When I was five-years-old, I was sent to France, spending the next thirteen years at the French court. Henry II of France raised me, and I had the best available education. I mastered the following languages:  Italian, Spanish, Greek, Latin, and French; I learned many things during my stay in the French court. Personally, I also made a close friend; her name was Elisabeth of Valois.

Truthfully, I liked it at France. It was the prime time of my life, the "golden age" of my childhood.

Many people praised me, and I was the French court's favorite person. Even Henry said that I was "the little Queen of Scots", "the most perfect child I have ever seen." Henry II was very affectionate and caring towards me.

Elisabeth of Valois

Afterwards, I married Francis II of France, and after two years of into our marriage, he passed away due to an ear infection, which formed a pus in his brain.

First, Henry II was killed in a jousting accident. My mother passed away in Scotland, and Francis died in 1560. I was extremely devastated during this time; I lost three close members from my family. Honestly, I have never really recovered from this gloomy period of my life.

After Francis's death, I wrote a poem about him. Here is an excerpt:
"By day, by night, I think of him
In wood or mead, or where I be
My heart keeps watch for one who's gone
And yet I feel he's aye to me"

I missed the three of them. I loved them so much, and they had disappeared from my life so suddenly...

Image Source: Wikimedia, En.Academic.ru

An Interesting Life...?

Mary, Queen of Scots

My life, overall, was pretty hectic and miserable.


My father, King James V of Scotland, had only one heir to the throne, and the next thing I knew, I became the Queen of Scotland; I was not Mary Stuart anymore...  I was only nine months when I ascended to the throne!


When I was approximately one-years-old, King Henry VIII of England wanted to unite England and Scotland together. He managed to do this by signing the Treaty of Greenwich.

I guess it was a smart political move to sign the treaty. But I was involved in this contract. It stated that I would be married to Edward VI of England.  



During the invasion of England in the Scottish and French territories, the French aided my country (Scotland) against the English. So in return, the Scottish Parliament agreed and signed a French Marriage Treaty, stating that I was to wed the Francis II of France, not Edward anymore. 

Francis II of France

Throughout my life, I was married to three husbands (see posts My Life in France, Lord Darnley, and Earl of Bothwell and the Sticky Situation for more information). In chronological order, my husbands were Francis II of France, Henry Stewart (Lord Darnley), and James Hepburn, the 4th Earl of Bothwell. To sum it up, my marriages had many ups and downs.


Lastly, I died because of the "Babington Plot". Here was how the story went. Anthony Babington, who was also Catholic like me, wanted to reestablish Catholicism in England and also planned to rescue me from my imprisonment (see post Earl of Bothwell and the Sticky Situation). I sent and received several letters to him, but little did I know that Elizabeth knew about these "letters". And in one of my last letters, Babington mentioned that he wanted to assassinate Elizabeth. I, on the other hand, did not agree to this.




Meanwhile, Elizabeth's secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, tried to convince Elizabeth that her life would be in danger if I were to live. But being Elizabeth, she disagreed with Walsingham. A stubborn, ambitious man, Walsingham, hired a spy named Gilbert Gifford to intercept my letter to Babington. Walsingham had the letter copied, forged, and rewritten. Apparently in this new letter,  I had "authorized" Babington's plan to assasinate Elizabeth I. 

Sir Francis Walsingham

Wasn't this great? Now, Sir Francis Walsingham  had a valid proof and evidence to execute me. And the next thing I knew, Babington was killed. I was next. 


I was notified of my execution and spent hours praying and writing my will. In my will, I stated that I wanted to be buried in France and  hoped that my servants would be released from this ordeal.

In February 8, 1587, I walked up five steps to the killing block and kneeled on a cushion, and right next to me, there was a butcher's knife.


It was interesting to say that my death was written by Robert Wynkfield with much detail. He even managed to write down the small details! 

My Execution

After few minutes later, two other executioners helped me to disrobe myself. "Never have I had such assistants to disrobe me, and never have I put off clothes before such company." (Robert Wynkfield) Wasn't it strange that someone had to disrobe me this way? During this time, I tried to be calm and be peaceful. I was now ready for death....


After I knelt down on the cushion in front of the block, I was blindfolded. I put my head on the block and shoved my arms behind my back; I could literately hear the blade swoosh up in the air. And the next thing I knew, the blade forcefully came down and successfully cut my neck . My head fell from the chopping block.... I was only forty-four years of age.

So really, my life was not great at all. I was sold off to King Henry the VIII, was caught in a bad scandal (see post Lord Darnley), and was executed because of Sir Francis Walsingham. Maybe if I wasn't an "aristocratically" born, then maybe, just maybe, my life could have turned out differently.

Images and Video Source: BBC, YouTube, Wikipedia, EnglishHistory.net, Explore-Parliament.net., NNBB.com