Did Mary, Queen of Scots murder her husband? The Mail’s Robert Hardman and historian Kate Williams investigate the mysterious 1567 murder of Lord Darnley in a new podcast series
It was a royal assassination that led to more than 450 years of accusations.
Was Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, assassinated by English spies conspiring with Scottish lords or… his wife?
Now, a new Daily Mail Podcast Royal columnist and biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams have delved into the mystery.
In the early morning of 10 February 1567, a huge explosion shook the building in Edinburgh where Lord Darnley – who was ill and possibly suffering from syphilis – was staying with his servant, William Taylor.
Interestingly, the bodies of the two men, who are believed to have been strangled, were found outside, alongside a piece of rope, a dagger, a chair and two dressing gowns.
Mary and Lord Darnley’s son, the future King James I of England (James VI of Scotland), was only eight months old at the time.
In the first episode of Queens, Kings and Cowardly Thingsreleased today, Professor Williams, Mary’s biographer, investigates the theory that the Queen herself may have been involved in her husband’s murder.
Did Mary, Queen of Scots murder her husband? Find out by listening to the full episode here
It was a royal murder that led to over 450 years of accusations. Was Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, murdered by English spies plotting against Scottish lords or… his wife?
Mary and Lord Darnley were portrayed by Saoirse Ronan and Jack Lowden in the 2018 film Mary Queen of Scots
They also investigate how the English spies arrived at the scene ‘suspiciously quickly’ and even made a police map of the locations of the bodies.
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And the two experts delve into the dark dealings of James Stewart – the Queen’s half-brother – and the Earl of Bothwell, who forced Mary to marry him after he allegedly raped her following her husband’s death.
“The murder of Lord Darnley is one of the most notorious unsolved crimes in history and changed the course of history,” said Professor Williams.
And as she and Mr. Hardman explain, Mary’s life was marked by turmoil, betrayal and trauma.
After her husband’s murder, Mary was deposed from the throne and spent the next 20 years under house arrest.
In 1587, she was beheaded on the orders of England’s Queen Elizabeth I, after being implicated in a plot to assassinate her.
Queens, Kings and Cowardly Things consists of ten episodes that will be released weekly starting today.
Did Queen Victoria secretly marry her beloved servant John Brown? Was the infamous Russian mystic Grigory Rasputin really the cause of the Russian Revolution?
And just how much power did the sex-crazed King Charles II’s three main mistresses really have? All these questions and more will be explored in the coming episodes.
Mary became Queen of Scots in December 1542, when she was only a few days old, following the death of her father, King James V.
In December 1542, Mary, then only a few days old, became Queen of Scotland, following the death of her father, King James V.
The podcast is presented by Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams
Mary, Queen of Scots, with her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
A drawing made for William Cecil, Queen Elizabeth I’s chief advisor, after the murder of Lord Darnley. It shows the bodies of Lord Darnley and his valet, and shows how they were found alongside a length of rope, a dagger, a chair and two dressing gowns
Because her country needed an ally during the invasions of King Henry VIII’s troops, she was sent to France as a teenager to marry the future King Francis II.
But he died in 1560, just two years after they were married and less than 12 months after becoming monarch.
Mary, now 18 years old, returned to Scotland – where her mother had held the throne until her death in June 1560 – to reclaim her throne.
She decided to marry the handsome Lord Darnley as part of her plan to overcome the Scottish lords’ resistance to her return.
In June 1566, seven months before Lord Darnley’s murder, Mary gave birth to their only child, the future King James I of England (James VI of Scotland).
But the fact that she had become the mother of a male heir meant that she was at risk of being deposed.
Professor Williams says: ‘We see Mary surrounded by plots to depose her once she has a baby.
“It seems unbelievable to us, doesn’t it? That a grown woman can be dumped for a baby who can’t even sit up. But that’s the way it is.”
One of the main conspirators was her half-brother, James Stewart.
“He is the machinator of the piece. He is the puppeteer,” Professor Williams adds.
“He’s been calling the shots until she came back and he really doesn’t like being sent away.”
A ‘massive’ plot took place when Mary was six months pregnant with her son.
She was hosting a dinner party with friends and her secretary, David Rizzio, when about 50 nobles, including her husband, arrived.
They stabbed Rizzio and captured Mary, but Lord Darnley changed his mind and helped his wife regain power.
He was left as the ‘big block’ on another pot to depose Mary.
He was staying in the Kirk o’Field area of Edinburgh when he was targeted.
James Stewart, Mary’s half-brother, was one of the suspects in the murder of Lord Darnley, as was the Earl of Bothwell (right)
Mary, Queen of Scots with her son, the future King James I of England (James VI of Scotland)
At 2 a.m. on February 10, barrels of gunpowder placed under his bedroom were detonated.
But the bodies of Lord Darnley and his servant, found outside in the nearby orchard, showed no visible signs of injury.
Darnley was wearing only his nightgown, indicating he had fled from his bedroom.
As the father of the future King of England and Scotland and with a claim to the English throne, Lord Darnley was a very powerful man.
Mary was distraught over her husband’s murder, but her initial indecisiveness led some to suspect that she had killed him.
Eventually she took Lord Bothwell to court, but he was found not guilty of the murder.
He hatched a plan to marry Mary and then share power with other lords.
Lord Bothwell convinced Mary to join him at his castle, where he captured and sexually abused her, then forced the queen into a legal marriage.
The treacherous Bothwell subsequently reneged on his agreement to share power with his fellow lords.
That anger led to the Battle of Carberry Hill, where Mary and Bothwell were defeated by James Stewart and his allies.
After surrendering, Mary, who was pregnant with Bothwell’s child at the time, was recaptured.
Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was murdered on 10 February 1567
She suffered a miscarriage while imprisoned in Lochleven Castle, where she was forced to abdicate.
Remarkably, she managed to escape after disguising herself and then went to England in the hope of gaining support from Queen Elizabeth I.
Instead, she was placed under house arrest and tried in private for the murder of her husband.
“The verdict is maybe, maybe not. So they don’t have to execute her or release her,” Professor Williams says in the first episode of the new podcast from the Mail.
For the next 20 years, Mary was held captive in various castles across Britain.
After becoming involved in the so-called Babington Plot against Elizabeth, Mary was found guilty of treason and subsequently beheaded.
But who killed her husband has always been a controversial question.
DON’T MISS Queens, Kings and Dastardly things: Listen to the new podcast here to hear Professor Williams’ final verdict.
Robert Hardman is the author of books such as Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II and Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story.
Professor Kate Williams is the author of the 2018 book Rival Queens: The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots, and many other works.
