21. Love Turns Mary Stuart’s Tragic Life More Tragic Still
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (1542 – 1587), had a tragic life. Her father, James V of Scotland, died when she was six days old, and she was crowned as queen while still in her swaddling clothes. Scotland was ruled by regents, while Mary was packed off to France, where she was raised in the French royal court. There, she married the French Dauphin, and eventually became queen of France when he succeeded to the throne as Francis II. However, that marriage lasted only a year, because her husband got an ear infection that spread to his brain and killed him.
The widowed Mary returned to Scotland, where she fell madly in love with and married her cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. It turned out to be one of history’s worst royal marriages: Darnley flipped from Prince Charming to Psycho Hubby. In a series of dramatic twists and turns, Darnley murdered Mary’s secretary in her presence, and she retaliated by hooking up with a lover who blew up her husband with gunpowder. It ended with the shocking Scots dethroning Mary and chasing her of out Scotland.
