Mary Queen of Scots statue at Linlithgow Palace
© VisitScotland / Kenny Lam
- Born 8 December 1542 in Linlithgow Palace.
- Crowned Queen of Scots in the Chapel Royal, Stirling Castle, aged just nine months.
- Smuggled to France aged five, where she lived until she was 18.
- Mary could speak five languages and grew to be 5 ft 11 in, unusually tall for the time.
- Gave birth to her only child in Edinburgh Castle. He would rise to become James VI of Scotland and I of England.
- Some believe she arranged to have her second husband, Lord Darnley, assassinated.
- Married for a third time to Lord Bothwell - some believe he abducted her against her will.
- Imprisoned for almost a year in Lochleven Castle in Kinross before managing to escape.
- Last hours in Scotland were spent in Dundrennan Abbey in Dumfries & Galloway before journeying to England to seek protection from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
- Confined in England for 18 years before Elizabeth sanctioned her death warrant and she was beheaded. She died 8 February 1587 in Fotheringhay Castle.
