Mary Queen of Scots has long been written about and portrayed as the beautiful, tragic cousin queen of Elizabeth I.
The one whose disastrous marriage choices left her without a country, while Elizabeth’s fiercely guarded independence gave her complete control – but no heir.
Mary was forced to abdicate her Scottish throne to her infant son, after a rash of uprisings and conspiracies.
She would live out the rest of her life as a ‘guest’ in England.
Her desire to rule both Scotland and England did eventually come to pass, when her son inherited both thrones.
Mary’s story has been told a number of ways, from Vanessa Redgrave’s Oscar-nominated portrayal in the 1971 film, to the CW series Reign, to the 2018 movie starring Saoirse Ronan in the title role.
Here are 11 facts about Mary that you might or might not, know.
1. MARY BECAME QUEEN OF SCOTLAND WHEN SHE WAS 6 DAYS OLD.
Mary’s father, James V of Scotland, had become king at just 17 months old when his father was killed in battle.
But on December 14, 1542, at age 30, he died “of no discernable cause”
Mysterious as the king’s death was, Mary’s birth had fortuitous timing.
She was born on 8th December — just six days before her fathers death.
Mary became queen immediately, making Mary Queen of Scots the youngest-ever Monarch.
2. SHE IS NOT BLOODY MARY.
People tend to confuse the two Mary’s…….
King Henry VIII’s eldest daughter Mary Tudor (Mary I) was given the tag of ‘bloody Mary’.
She was old enough to be Mary Queen of Scots mother.
In fact, at one point, King Henry VIII had offered his eldest daughter Mary, as a wife to Scotland’s King James V.
If that had taken place, Mary Stuart would never have been born.
3. MARY CHANGED THE SPELLING OF THE FAMILY NAME.
In 1558, sometime before her marriage to Francis, the Dauphin of France, Mary changed the spelling of her surname from Stewart to Stuart, to make it easier for the French to pronounce.
4. MARY WAS FLUENT IN LATIN.
She was also fluent in French and the Scots dialect of the Lowlands.
She was also proficient in Italian, Spanish, and Greek.
5. SHE WAS VERY TALL.
In an age when a woman was considered tall if she reached 5 feet 4 inches, Mary finally grew to almost 6 feet, often listed as being 5 feet 11 inches.
6. MARY WORE WHITE FOR HER FIRST WEDDING.
White was considered a color of mourning at the time, but Mary loved the shade – and likely how it looked against her pale skin and striking red hair!
She chose a white gown for her Notre Dame wedding to Francis II.
7. MARY LOVED GOLF.
Golfers worldwide revere Scotland’s, St. Andrews, as the “Cathedral of Golf.”
It’s considered the oldest golf course in the world.
Mary had a vacation cottage there, and played often.
She had likely learned the game as a child in France.
8. SHE USED TO WASH HER FACE IN WHITE WINE.
In the 16th century, it was fashionable for those who could afford it to bathe in white wine.
Mary had incredibly fair skin, and the antiseptic properties of white wine essentially worked as a toner.
During her long imprisonment in England, the Earl of Shrewsbury, to whom she had been entrusted, was known to complain about the costs of her beauty routine.
9. ELIZABETH I WAS GODMOTHER TO MARY’S SON.
Elizabeth named Mary’s son, James, as her successor.
Upon Elizabeth’s death in 1603, he became James VI and I—the sixth of Scotland and first of England—and the first monarch to jointly rule the sovereign states (known as the Union of the Crowns).
10. HER PET TERRIER WAS HIDING UNDER HER SKIRTS AT HER EXECUTION.
Mary was convicted of conspiring to kill her 2nd cousin, Queen Elizabeth.
On 8th February 1587, at age 44, she approached the block.
She cast off her black gown to reveal a red dress underneath, the shade of Catholic martyrdom.
She had her neck hacked at least three times, by the bumbling exEcutioner.
He then dropped her head when he grabbed it by the wig.
But as devastating as that entire episode was for everyone in attendance, what happened next made an awful situation even worse.
Mary’s pet terrier had hidden itself in the folds of her petticoat and sneaked onto stage.
When detected, it ran about wailing miserably and lay down in the widening pool of blood between Mary’s severed head and shoulders.
11. MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS IS BURIED AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY, NEAR ELIZABETH I.
Though they never met in person, despite all their correspondence, Mary and Elizabeth’s tombs are side by side in Westminster Abbey’s Lady Chapel.
Following Mary’s exEcution, Elizabeth ignored her request to be buried in France and had her interred at Peterborough Cathedral in a Protestant ceremony.
Twenty-five years later, in 1621, Mary’s son James VI and I had her reinterred at Westminster.
Although her tomb is near to her rival cousin’s, they are separated by a nave—even in death, their crypts aren’t quite in view of each other.
Adelaide Kane as Mary Queen of Scots in ‘Reign’.
