After several years in France the young queen and the Dauphine were finally married. Soon she was the queen of both France and Scotland and because of her relationship to King Henry VIII of England, she had a strong claim to the English throne as well. But the young queen was not very lucky and after only a year of marriage her husband died. So she was no longer Queen of France and was sent back to Scotland.

Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary and her suitors
Mary's return to Scotland
Mary and the Earl of Huntly
A play, about Mary's Loves

Pages about events during Mary's life
The death of Paris
The murder of Mary's brother
The murder of the Regent, Lennox
Scotland's Civil War

The young queen was now even prettier than before. And as she was single again, she had suitors from all over the world. The Prince of Spain, the son of the Emperor of Rome, the crown prince of Austria, the prince of Denmark and the list goes on.

Well, by this time the King Henry VIII had died and Queen Elizabeth was on the throne of England. Queen Elizabeth had already decided she was not going to take a husband so she didn't have any son's to offer, that's why they called her the Virgin Queen. However, Queen Elizabeth did have a stable boy. And so, Queen Elizabeth sent her stable boy to join in the suit for the young queen's hand.

The young queen thought if the stable boy was not good enough for Queen Elizabeth, how could he be good enough for the young queen? So, she didn't marry him. But, she was next in line for the English throne so choosing a husband who was close to England might not be such a bad idea, and thus the young queen married again, the very handsome Lord Darnley, a Scottish Noble raised in England.

The young queen and Lord Darnley had a son. But, again the young queen wasn't very lucky and her marriage to Darnley wasn't very happy. You see, Darnley wasn't very popular in Scotland and after a few years, some nobles got together and decided to blow up his house to teach him a lesson. Oddly enough, Darnley was inside the house at the time and as such he didn't fair so well. Darnley died. And the young queen was a widow again.

Well, if a French husband didn't work out and an English husband didn't workout, perhaps she should marry a Scottish one? Lord Bothwell was dashing and daring and a strong supporter of the young queen, so strong in fact, he kidnapped her and took the young queen to his castle. Soon the two were married.

Unfortunately, the nobles didn't like Bothwell even more than they didn't like Darnley. They raised an army to oppose the marriage. The young queen and Lord Bothwell also gathered an army and met the nobles at Carbury Hill. But after a very long talk with the angry nobles, the young queen surrendered and Bothwell rode off, eventually ending up in Denmark, in prison. It seems they thought he was one of the people responsible for Darnley's death.

After Carbury hill, the young queen was forced to give up her crown to her son. And she was locked up in Lochleven Castle. Not willing to give in so easily, being stubborn as well as pretty, the young queen escaped and raised another army. This time she did not talk. However, she was still not very lucky and she did not win the battle of Langside either.

Well, rather than go back to prison she escaped to England where she thought Queen Elizabeth would help her, being a fellow queen and all. Unfortunately, since the young queen was also in line for the English crown Queen Elizabeth wasn't very helpful. In fact, Queen Elizabeth ended up putting the young queen in prison.

While in prison, the young queen kept up the hope that someday she might be free and return to Scotland as queen. During this time she wrote many letters to many people, one of who was the Duke of Norfolk, a very powerful man in England. Some say they fell in love, although they never met. Some say he, like Bothwell, believed in the young queen and just wanted to help her escape. Whatever the reason, they talked of marriage. And this did not make Queen Elizabeth happy, so she had the Duke of Norfolk executed. The young queen's luck had not changed.

While in prison, the young queen wrote to her son, who was now King of Scotland and next in line for the throne of England. The young queen asked for his help to get out of prison; she even embroidered a lovely vest for him. But he was afraid if he helped his mother get out of the English prison, it would upset Queen Elizabeth and hurt his chances at being the next King of England. So he did nothing.

Years later, when the young queen was not so young anymore, and the years in prison had taken away much of her beauty there was another man. His name was Lord Babington, yet another English noble. He was not interested in marriage, but was interested in the young queen's freedom and her claim to the English throne. But, as luck would have it, his plan was discovered and he was executed by Queen Elizabeth.

Since part of the Babington plot was to do in Queen Elizabeth, she had no choice but to accuse the young queen. The trial was held and the verdict was guilty. After 20 years as a prisoner in England, the young queen's luck was at an end. Queen Elizabeth had her beheaded.

Eventually Queen Elizabeth did die and the crowns of Scotland and England were joined through the young queen's son, James VI and I.