[MR] Wikipedia: Mary Queen of Scots Marries Lord Darnley

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots,

On this day in 1565, Mary Queen of Scots married Henry Stuart, Lord
Darnley, in a Catholic ceremony at Holyrood palace, Edinburgh.

Mary was already a widow, having been briefly married to the French king
Francis II until his early death in 1560, and thus had been Queen of France
as well as Queen of Scots. She was 22. Darnley was 18 (his actual birthday
in 1546 is not known). The couple were cousins, sharing a grandmother,
former Queen of Scots Margaret Tudor.

Well, this turned out to NOT be a match made in heaven. After their initial
burst of affection, Darnley showed himself to be a self-centered, jealous,
violent and often drunk little snot. Mary denied him the title of King
Matrimonial because of his instability. When she fell pregnant, rumors
began to circulate that the father was not Darnley, but Mary's secretary
and music master David Rizzio. On 9 March 1566, Darnley and some of his
drinking buddies invaded Mary's private apartments as she was dining with
Rizzio. While Darnley restrained the Queen, his men stabbed the unfortunate
Rizzio 57 times in the approved Scottish fashion. So much for Mary and
Darnley's matrimonial bliss.

On the night of 9/10 1567, Darnley's house at Kirk o' Field near Edinburgh
was blown to bits in a gunpowder explosion. The next day the bodies of
Darnley and his valet were found in a nearby orchard. It was determined
that they had been smothered. Suspicion immediately fell on the new royal
favorite, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell (another winner!). When she and
Bothwell married two months later, Mary herself became a suspect in
Darnley's murder. From here, Mary's reign descended into chaos and her
eventual flight to England.

Rough game, Scottish politics.

You can read more about the marriage at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Queen_of_Scots .

The unfortunate Davis Rizzio even has his own page at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rizzio .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.